UNDP pilot project "Use of ICT for Medical Diagnosis of Poor Rural People in Remote Areas" (the telemedicine project) organized the three-day seminar to open up opportunities and raise awareness of healthcare workers and train a group of medical specialists on usage of ICT in medicine demonstrating the benefits of telemedicine system.

About 40 medical experts participated in the seminar and discussed such issues as usage of ICT tools in medicine, technical aspects of telemedicine development in Uzbekistan, electronic healthcare in Uzbekistan, experience of telemedicine usage and others.

The participants were also involved in practical exercises, including preparation of materials to work with telemedicine system and histological laboratory.

Sherzod Shermatov, the Head of Good Governance Unit of UNDP Uzbekistan, said: "The Government of Uzbekistan pays great attention to reform medical sector and introduction of ICT in all spheres of life. UNDP Country Office in Uzbekistan supports endeavors of the government in these directions. The telemedicine project is good example of UNDP’s involvement in these areas."

He said the telemedicine can help to improve quality of medical services and ensure the timely and accountable diagnostics, which will prevent the diseases or start proper treatment at early stages. It will also assist the population in rural areas to get access to high-quality medical services and train skilled healthcare specialists.

The objective of the project "Use of ICT for Medical Diagnosis of Poor Rural People in Remote Areas" is to build and maintain the capacity of a group of trainers on diagnostics and research activities and to improve access to qualified medical services for population in two selected regions, with special attention to women and children and those, who can not afford or have limited access to health care services in the field of pathologoanatomy, particularly the poor and the disabled.

The project is preparatory phase for possible full-scale telemedicine project covering all regions of Uzbekistan. The preparatory assistance phase will enable to assess the potential development and improvement of the system, analyze the costs to implement the project throughout the country as well as identify main key players to mobilize sufficient resources.