Hyderabad: President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam today (Feb 1, 2007)calledupon doctors to serve in rural areas for at least three to four years andunderlined the need to make quality healthcare services accessible andaffordable to the poor.

He was speaking after commissioning India's firsttele-radiology network at the Kakarla Subba Rao Radiological and ImagingEducational Sciences Trust (KREST) here that aims to provide radiology servicesin rural areas at minimum cost.

Experts will, under the tele-radiology network, offer adviceon radiology images of patients sent from hospitals in rural areas and provideinstant consultation.

The president said tele-radiology would become an importanttool for outreach to rural citizens.

"Tele-radiology opens up new opportunities forproviding quality healthcare to people in the remotest areas and development ofskill in the country," he said.

"The inherent benefit of digital imaging as adiagnostic tool and tele-radiology should be taken as an opportunity forreaching out to the un-reached in a cost effective manner. This would need theIndian medical equipment industry to gear up for designing and manufacturingDICOM compatible X-ray and other imaging equipment which can be used optimallyin conjunction with tele-radiology," said Kalam.

He said Indiawas importing medical equipment to cater to the requirements of itsbillion-plus population.

"The cost must come down drastically. Simultaneously,while we consider the saving due to the films (imaging) and other forms, thelife time cost will become affordable to the common man," he said.

Pointing out that India has less than 6,000radiologists, he said the introduction of tele-radiology would not only enableefficient utilisation of this scarce expertise but also enable training andcontinuing education of radiologists throughout the country.

The tele-network has been developed by KREST in partnershipwith Care Foundation, US Electronics and Electronics Corp of India Ltd (ECIL).It has connected Hyderabad's CareHospitalto the Maa Scan and Research Centre in Gunturand another diagnostic centre.

Eminent radiologist Kakarla Subba Rao said it was proposedto establish connectivity with 10 diagnostic centres in a year and 50 centresacross Indiaby 2009.