PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has made significant progress towards establishing a telemedicine service in prisons to provide inmates with modern and quality healthcare facilities.
The initiative, launched with the special attention of Special Assistant to the Chief Minister for Home and Tribal Affairs Tariq Saeed Marwat and Special Assistant for Prisons Iftikharullah, will enable inmates to receive timely medical consultations from specialist doctors through modern technology.
The telemedicine service will be established under a Hub-and-Spoke Model through collaboration between the Home and Tribal Affairs Department, Prisons Department and Health Department.
The Police Services Hospital Peshawar will serve as the central telemedicine hub, while prisons in Peshawar, Mardan and Haripur will initially be included as pilot spokes.
The telemedicine network will initially provide healthcare through three modes: live video consultations, store-and-forward services and remote patient monitoring.
Specialist services will initially be available in eight medical fields, including medicine, psychiatry/clinical psychology, gynaecology, cardiology, ophthalmology, ENT, radiology and dermatology.
Officials said the service would improve inmates’ access to specialist doctors and reduce the need to transfer prisoners to hospitals for medical examinations and consultations.
The initiative is also expected to reduce security risks associated with prisoner transfers, as well as transportation and security escort requirements. It will also help ease the additional burden on major public-sector hospitals.
Under the project, the Prisons and Health departments will undertake the necessary administrative and technical measures, including issuing relevant notifications, forming technical and procurement committees, purchasing required equipment and deploying technical staff.
Special Assistant to the Chief Minister for Home and Tribal Affairs Tariq Saeed Marwat said the provincial government was taking practical steps to modernise healthcare, rehabilitation and welfare facilities in prisons.
He said prisoners were also part of society and providing them with timely, quality and dignified healthcare was the responsibility of the state.
Marwat said effective coordination and cooperation among the Home, Prisons and Health departments would further improve healthcare facilities in prisons.
Special Assistant for Prisons Iftikharullah said prison reforms were not limited to secure custody but also aimed at ensuring the health, rehabilitation, dignity and basic human needs of inmates.
He said the initiative would use modern technology to make medical services in prisons more effective, accessible and timely, while also strengthening coordination between the Prisons and Health departments.
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