PEOPLE who want a second opinion on the diagnosis provided by local doctors will now be able to do so by communicating with reputable medical personnel in hospitals in Australia, US and India.
This was made possible through the opening of a $100,000 Australian Government-funded telemedicine unit at the Sarada Medical Centre in Nadi.
Centre medical specialist Dr Raymond Fong said the opening was timely for the people of Nadi.
“People who usually get diagnosed with fatal illnesses like heart defects and cancer normally want a second opinion,” he said.
“What we do is basically take all the required tests — blood pressure, cholesterol levels and the like — and then place those results on the internet for one of the doctors from these three places to check.
“We also have the live communication path where patients get to speak directly to doctors and get a diagnosis from them first- hand.”
Dr Fong said two telemedicine centres were already present in Suva and Lautoka and this was the first of its kind to be built in Nadi.
“The public will benefit a lot from this and we will be keeping records for all the patients that we will see. This will make it easier for us to keep track of the patients and provide them with results when overseas professionals have finished their diagnosis.”
Acting Australian High Commissioner Glenn Miles, the chief guest at the event, said the facility would contribute to early detection, treatment and management of diseases.
