The medical services of the Indian Armed Forces are strengthening their activities digital capabilities to address the pressing health challenges of soldiers and their families.
Since the beginning of the year, it has entered into multiple research collaborations with the Indian Institute of Technology in Hyderabad, Delhi, Kanpur and Roorkee to develop digital technologies, especially AI models for diagnosis and medical devices for remote care.
Through these partnerships, the company is also exploring opportunities to leverage robotics and nanotechnology in healthcare and enable drone-based patient transport.
Meanwhile, the Armed Forces Medical College in Pune, the flagship training institute of AFMS, has become the pilot site of a telehealth collaboration between the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. For two years, it will operate a dedicated cell of Tele-MANAS, the Ministry of Health’s national telemedicine helpline, to provide 24-hour access to mental health care for armed forces personnel and their families.
In addition, the AFMS and the Indian Council of Medical Research have an ongoing research partnership that focuses on the health effects of high-altitude terrain, combat-related or post-traumatic stress disorders, aerospace medicine, infectious diseases and other health issues faced by military personnel. members of the service.
WHY IT MATTERS
The Indian Army is committed to its modernization and declares 2024 as ‘the year of technology absorption’. It realized that technology has emerged as a driving force behind modern warfare.
In addition to advancing its technological capabilities in defense and warfare, the country is also improving its healthcare services armed forces personnel increasingly being dismantleddeployed in mountain areas. More needs to be done to understand and treat varied and com-related problemsplex health issues that soldiers encounter during their deployments, the AFMS noted, highlighting the importance of its latest research partnerships.
THE BIG TREND
Armed forces across Asia and the Pacific have also initiated projects to modernize their healthcare systems.
The Australian Defense Force is undergoing a multi-year upgrade to its digital health system. In 2022 it had a consortium led by Leidos is contracted to deliver a range of technologies by 2028, including EMR, telehealth, e-prescribing, practice management, e-referrals, clinical decision support, AI and data analytics.
Military hospitals in the Philippines and Uzbekistan have recently been integrated Lunit’s AI solution for chest X-ray screening into their workflows to improve lung disease detection. The same solution has also been deployed on the Korean Navy’s destroyer ROKS Yangmanchun, stationed in the Gulf of Aden.
Earlier this year, an upgraded EMR system went live at the Singapore Armed Forces Medical Corps. Runs on both Sunrise EMR and Altera Opal, the The Patient Care Enhancement System 3 system allows soldiers to access their medical history and manage and book their medical appointments. The system is now also connected to Singapore’s national EHR.