Telemedicine project

Poverty and Disability Initiative in Nigeria-PADIN

Telemedicine project

To provide easy access to healthcare facilities 200,000 persons with disabilities in the comfort of their homes through technology.

AMAC, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria

NGA

Nonprofit

PADIN Telemedicine Project targets enhanced access to health care among people with disabilities (PWDs) in Abuja Karonmajigi. The members are mostly immobile, indigent, and stigmatized in regular health centers such that they cannot access the health care they need in time. Inadequate specialized health care services worsen their condition with resultant avoidable complications and suboptimal quality of life. PADIN's Telemedicine program assures remote consultation with a physician, e-health monitoring, and rapid access to disability-specified physicians, which provides care that is more inclusive and accessible. The strategy also eliminates transportation problems and associated costs, allowing easy and accessible health care for disabled persons in Karonmajigi. The problem is not only local but also global, with more than 13,000 disabled persons in Karonmajigi alone facing severe inconveniences when attempting to access health care. As per the World Health Organization, more than one billion people, i.e., almost 15% of the population, have some kind of disability. A majority of them are not treated with proper medical care.

PADIN Telemedicine Project is an e-health initiative uniquely created to provide accessible, affordable, and specialist services to disability persons (PWDs) in rural communities such as the Karonmajigi and Maraba disability settlements in Nigeria. How It Works: PADIN Telemedicine remotely connects PWDs to certified physicians and specialists through a mobile application and telemedicine platform. Virtual consultations can be scheduled, diagnoses provided, and prescriptions or referrals received without physical displacement. The technology employs video calling, AI medical chatbots, and electronic medical records (EMR) for patient care. Technology Used: The project utilizes telehealth software, AI-assisted diagnosis, cloud-based Electronic Medical Record, and IoT-based medical devices for distant chronic disease monitoring. It also utilizes SMS and USSD services for patients with poor internet connectivity. Through elimination of geographic and economic hurdles, PADIN Telemedicine avails PWDs with equivalent healthcare empowering them with access to round-the-clock medical treatment and therefore a higher quality of life and better health outcomes.

The recipients of PADIN's Telemedicine program are individuals with disabilities (PWDs) who reside within the Karonmajigi disability settlement in Abuja. They have physical, visual, and hearing disabilities and others, and these disability impairments hinder their mobility as well as access to available services. Economically and socially, they experience challenges of unemployment, poverty, as well as discriminatory acts that deny their access to proper health care. The conventional health centers in Nigeria are marked by physical inaccessibility, lack of specialist medical care to the PWDs, and medical personnel who lack the necessary qualifications to attend to their specific needs. As a result, the majority of them either forgo medical care or turn to informal and in the majority of cases inappropriate sources of health care. PADIN Telemedicine project directly addresses these concerns through the provision of remote access to healthcare, which is specialized for PWDs. With the provision of virtual consultations, remote health monitoring, and local hospital referrals, the project helps ensure that one gets the proper medical attention at the right time without having to physically relocate.