BHU uses telemedicine facilities to spread awareness among community

 

Varanasi: Banaras Hindu University has started sessions of e-lectures on ‘Covid19: Basic prevention’ as an extension of the ongoing continuous training programmes on infection control to combat the present crisis.

The BHU spokesperson Rajesh Singh said that these sessions are aimed at increasing the community outreach through healthcare professionals and medical students. These are being conducted by the Regional Resource Centre, Telemedicine, IMS, BHU using ‘zoom’, beginning from March 30, 2020.

A detailed talk on microbiological aspects of the SARS-Cov2 virus along with the basic infection control measures to be adopted for containment was discussed in the first two days by Dr Tuhina Banerjee, Infection Control Officer from the Department of Microbiology, IMS, BHU and her team comprising of Dr Arghya, Dr Rahul, Dr Sampad, Dr Dharnidhar, Dr Bisheswar, Dr Bhairav and Dr Lari.

It was followed by live demonstration on steps of hand hygiene and proper use of masks. The target audience was faculty and residents from various departments of IMS and adjoining colleges on day 1 and undergraduate medical students on day 2. The primary aim was to increase awareness amongst healthcare workers and students for further dissemination at Gram Panchayat levels and the community. The idea of utilizing telemedicine for this activity was suggested by Prof V K Shukla, Rector, BHU and Prof S K Mathur, Medical Superintendent, SSH, BHU. The sessions are being moderated by Prof Ratan Srivastava, Incharge, RRC, Telemedicine, BHU. The complete session was covered by zoom for a period of 2 hours each day wherein participants joined from remote locations using the desktop and mobile Apps.

This technique enabled enhanced participation from a large audience within a short notice, which made it effective given the current circumstances. “This method of knowledge sharing in the community has garnered a very positive response from the community and therefore we plan to continue the initiative,” he said.