Abstract
Healthcare is a basic human need in any civilization. In modern sense of geopolitics, a welfare state has to ensure easy access of public to basic amenities which include medical facilities. However, the areas, off mainland, usually stay deprived of quality medical services. This is generally the case in third world countries, including Pakistan. Here, due to lack of education and poverty, the suburban or countryside population remains ignorant of available qualified doctors. Everybody does not afford travelling to the nearest main city hospital. Those who afford sometimes experience extreme frustration at absence of their desired medic. In order to assist the deprived, the authors have developed a mobile-based appointment system for remote patients. This application not only helps in requesting appointments with doctors, but lets the android mobile user search the list of quality medics around. The details related to the use and effectiveness of this application have been discussed in the main chapter.
TopCurrent Health Scenario Of Pakistan
Referring to Gallup Survey Pakistan, Hamza Afzal Butt, Digital Marketing Manager at Bilqees Sarwar Foundation, maintains that the out of total GDP of Pakistan only 0.75% is invested in health, a budget far from enough to cater for healthcare demands of 1.8 billion people (Butt, 2017). Testifying to this claim, Nadir Baloch spotlights the official data that confirm the presence of 127,859 doctors and 12,804 health facilities in the country to cater for over 170 million people (Butt, 2017).
According to Asad Elahi, former secretary at Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan, rural areas of Pakistan suffer a poor health infrastructure. In the private sector, no one is willing to invest big in health in these remote areas because of the overall financial standing of the people. District governments have set up dispensaries and basic healthcare units, most of which do not have qualified general physicians or specialists. The other health facilities that come under minimum medical equipment are also quite scanty including ambulances, beds, X-ray machines, etc. Usually qualified doctors hesitate to commit themselves to serve in these areas due to poor infrastructure and residential facilities. Structurally too these BHUs are in poor shape. The poor villagers are left to the mercy of dispensers and quacks. “Non-availability of medical advice and medicines to the poor from these institutions has led to rise in mortality rates as well as increase in incidence of diseases” (Elahi A, 2013).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Android: A mobile operating system called OS based on the Linux kernel and is currently developed Google.
General Physician: An all-rounder type of doctor with training in general treatment of diseases.
Admin Login: Login or entry available to the user of a discussion forum or website with special rights to control or restrict the activity of other users. In the context of this chapter it means doctors with this privilege.
Doctor’s Schedule: Daily routine of doctor, related to their professional duties.
Doctor-Patient Interaction: The term refers to all forms of communication between a physician and their patient over a health issue facing the patient.
Emergency: A situation that rises unalarmed and poses serious risks. It requires urgent attention to defuse.
Online Appointment: A system of scheduling or rescheduling an appointment with a doctor by using a mobile app, webpage, or website.
Medical Appointment: This is the scheduled or rescheduled counseling session between a doctor and their patient.
Specialized Physician: A physician or doctor specializing in certain field of medicine such as hepatology, cardiology, orthopedics, etc.
Mobile-Phone-Based Healthcare: A system of health guidelines and appointment scheduling available in a mobile phone or smart phone.