Most e-consultations on Sanjeevani portal pertain to vaccine queries, say doctors

Doctors from Gautam Budh Nagar who are engaged in online consultations via the e-sanjeevani portal said in the past one month -- since the nationwide online out-patient service offered by the ministry of health was launched in Uttar Pradesh on May 8 -- queries about vaccinations have been the foremost concern among patients seeking their services

Doctors from Gautam Budh Nagar who are engaged in online consultations via the e-sanjeevani portal said in the past one month -- since the nationwide online out-patient service offered by the ministry of health was launched in Uttar Pradesh on May 8 -- queries about vaccinations have been the foremost concern among patients seeking their services.

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The service is currently available across 23 medical colleges in the state, officials said. The online out-patient department (OPD) services are available from 9am to 5pm, while specialty consultations are open from 9am to 2pm on weekdays.The doctors provide online prescription to patients through the portal and the consults are free of cost.

In Gautam Budh Nagar, the Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) and Super Speciality Paediatric Hospital & Post Graduate Teaching Institute (also known as Child PGI), are registered on the portal. Nineteen doctors from GIMS and 14 from Child PGI are providing online consultations. The service helps doctors as well as patient connect virtually without risk of infection.

Till June 16, GIMS has completed 1,506 consultations, which is the highest in the state while Child PGI has completed 1,011 consultations, which is the third highest in the state.

Dr (major) BP Singh from Child PGI hospital has been giving video and tele consultations on the portal since May 10 to general out-patients.

“I do around 40 consultations in a day of which around 20 are mostly about vaccinations. People who get fever or weakness after vaccination books slots for consultations. We prescribe them regular medicines and tell them that the ailments are harmless side effects,” said Dr Singh.

He said some book a consult for dispelling myths and misinformed notions about vaccines. “The service is available to people from all over the state and, hence, people from rural and remote areas also often connect with doctors on the portal. They often ask us to confirm whether a particular rumour they had heard about vaccinations is true or not and we educate and inform them that getting vaccinated is safe and beneficial to them,” said Dr Singh.

Meanwhile at GIMS, most consultations in the general OPD are regarding post-Covid complications or the common flu.

“Since there is a lot of awareness regarding symptoms, most consultations in the general OPD are regarding common flu, fever, headache, cough and so on. Some patients also report mild post-Covid complications such as weakness, loss of appetite, diarrhoea and sleeplessness,” said Dr (brigadier) Rakesh Gupta, director, GIMS.