Africa Medical Information Centre inaugurated

A centre to bridge the gap between the African health sector and health specialists around the world was on Thursday inaugurated in Accra.

Known as the Africa Medical Information Centre (AMIC), the facility will facilitate continuing medical education for healthcare providers and also provide online consultations for doctors who may need a second opinion from experts.

The centre will also carry out live complex surgical procedures for knowledge and skills transfer to help build capacity in the health sector and also facilitate the emergency evacuation of patients for more advanced quality health care.

A piece of medical equipment, known as the Remote Doctors Klinik, that provides healthcare consultations remotely and for real-time diagnosis was also unveiled at the event.

In attendance were the Director-General, Ghana Armed Forces Medical Services, Brigadier General Raymond Ewusi; the Director-General, National Police Patrol, Commissioner of Police (COP), Paul Awini, who represented the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, and medical professionals from India and Klinik Everywhere, a technological company, among others.

About AMIC

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AMIC, Jignesh Viradia, said the centre was backed by the entire network of Aster Hospitals (Aster Group of Hospitals), which is made up of about 31 hospitals in seven countries with 12,000 surgeons and 45,000 other health workers.

“This centre will provide a free screening facility for Ghana and the African continent. Apart from that, we will also contribute towards having surgical camps in Ghana and bring in experts to partner with local doctors,” he added.

Touching on the Remote Doctors Klinik, Mr Viradia said the equipment was one of the innovative inventions that were geared towards providing health care in remote areas.

“The Idea is to have these Remote Doctors Klinik in all 271 constituencies. The equipment is at the approval stage at the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), so once it is approved we will start deploying them,” he added.

Appreciation

The CEO of the National Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr Okoe Boye, expressed appreciation to the Aster Group, AMIC and AIMS Hospital, for the establishment of the centre.

He said the centre was helping to enforce an important provision of the Public Health Act 2012, ACT 851 section 167, known as the Patient Charter, where a patient has entitlement and right to relevant information about his or her healthcare interventions.

Dr Boye said going forward, the centre would be well stuffed with the needed literature, research materials and doctors who would be accessible to the public and also network across the continent and beyond.

For his part, COP Awini also said that the centre would enhance the capacity of health professionals and position them to provide quality health services to the public.

He said the work of the police and healthcare professionals was similar as they all aimed at saving lives.

 

Credit: Graphic