WASHINGTON, United States (CMC) — The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has launched an ultra-portable telehealth kit for the management of complex cardiovascular disease, specialist prenatal ultrasounds and the diagnosis of communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis, that can now be carried out even in the most remote parts of the Americas, including the Caribbean.

PAHO said the telehealth kits, which form part of the organisation’s All in One Telehealth Package, provide countries with everything they need to set up telehealth services in rural and hard-to-reach communities throughout the region at just one-fifth of the cost of purchasing the equipment separately.

In the Americas, PAHO said around 35 per cent of the population lack access to the health services they need, primarily due to organisational, financial and geographic barriers.

For Dr Sebastian Garcia Saiso, director of Evidence and Intelligence for Action in Health at PAHO, “The telehealth kits are a crucial step forward in democratising comprehensive primary healthcare services and bringing them to the populations that need them the most — from the jungles of the Amazon rainforest to the peaks of the Andes, to the small island states of the Caribbean.”

Available through PAHO’s Regional Revolving Funds, a pooled procurement mechanism that enables countries of the Americas to access quality vaccines, essential medicines, supplies and health technologies at affordable prices, PAHO said the kits contain everything needed to set up telehealth services in the field.

It said this includes equipment such as a blood pressure monitor, a glucometer, a thermometer, an electrocardiogram, a heart rate monitor, and an oxygen saturation machine, all of which can be connected online and utilised digitally.

PAHO said the equipment contained in the kit is digital and interoperable and comes in a durable, secure and ultra-portable case, ensuring that it is kept safe and operational even when transported through difficult terrain.

“While telehealth is not new, the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged us to explore new possibilities in terms of harnessing the power of telehealth to provide primary healthcare services in previously underserved areas of our Region,” said Marcelo D’Agostino, unit chief for Information Systems and Digital Health at PAHO.

“The kits can be operated by anyone in the field, from a local doctor to a community health care worker, and are designed to be connected digitally, facilitating the real-time interpretation of results by a specialist that may be located thousands of miles away,” he added.

When obtained via the PAHO Revolving Funds, PAHO said the telehealth kits reduce the cost of purchasing the equipment separately by about 80 per cent.

PAHO said add-ons for more specialist care can also be obtained, including ultrasound and foetal monitor for prenatal health care, and portable x-ray machines, which have already been key to increasing early diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in some countries of the region.

PAHO said it works with countries of the Americas in the development of telehealth services from policy development, to planning, training and implementation.

To facilitate this, PAHO said its All in One Telehealth Package includes open-source software that can be integrated into existing health information systems.

It said the software includes an electronic health record system for the management of non-communicable diseases, as well as a videoconferencing module for teleconsultations.