Chennai, India (CU)_ Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) collaborated with the Tamil Nadu National Health Mission to enhance the health of newborn infants, since the health professionals working at the primary health centers (PHCs) of the state were encountering severe challenges.
Darez Ahamed, director of Tamil Nadu National Health Mission, along with IIT-Madras director-professor V Kamakoti and others recently launched a project report titled ‘SmartNRP’ (neonatal resuscitation programme) to help minimize the maternal mortality rate in the state.
A group from the IIT-Madras Center of Excellence for Virtual Reality recognized skill training of the health professionals as the country’s primary concern, particularly in primary health care centers. The projects were funded by INdiaIdeas.com’s (BillDesk) corporate social responsibility measures. According to the statement, this funding was critical in establishing the healthcare programs.
According to a press release from IIT-Madras, “Using virtual reality, artificial intelligence/machine learning, the SmartNRP tool will be used for training the workers at PHCs in Tamil Nadu under the National Health Mission. This will be scaled subsequently to other States where NMR is very high”.
Ahamed spoke about the neonatal mortality. He said, “If you look at infant mortality, the biggest contributor is the neonatal mortality rate (NMR) which is death within 28 days of birth. Around 40 babies are lost per every 1,000 births. We want to bring this down to single digit and all these initiatives are towards this direction”. He added, “IIT-Madras should also develop tools to train healthcare workers in various other areas such as treating accident victims…there are numerous other areas where virtual reality can be utilized”.
Kamakoti expressed hopes on the new technology. He said, “I am sure virtual reality will make an impact not only on healthcare verticals but in other areas as well. There are a lot of very interesting ideas from IIT-Madras research scholars and students.”
