PAHO ultra-portable telehealth kit brings specialist primary healthcare services to remote communities in the Americas – PAHO/WHO

Washington DC March 18, 2025 (PAHO) – The management of complex cardiovascular disease, specialized prenatal ultrasound and the diagnosis of communicable diseases such as tuberculosis can now be carried out even in the most remote parts of the Americas thanks to the launch of the kits of the organization of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). The kits, which are part of the All in One Telealth package of the organization, provide countries with everything they need to establish telesalud services in rural communities and difficult to reach the entire region just one fifth of the cost of buying the equipment separately.

In the Americas, about 35% of the population lacks access to health services they need, mainly due to organizational, financial and geographical barriers. For Dr. Sebastian García Saiso, director of evidence and intelligence for health action in Paho, «Telesalud kits are a crucial step in the democratization of comprehensive primary medical care services and take them to the populations that need them more, from the jungles of the Amazon rain to the peaks of the before, to the small states of the islands of the states of the islands of the Caribbean.» «» «.» «.» «.» «.» «.» «

Available through the regional rotating funds of PAHO, a grouped acquisition mechanism that allows the countries of the Americas to access quality vaccines, essential medicines, supplies and health technologies at affordable prices, the kits contain everything necessary to establish teleral health services in the field. This includes equipment such as a blood pressure monitor, a glucometer, a thermometer, an electrocardiogram, a heart rate monitor and an oxygen saturation machine, all of which can be connected online and use digitally.

The entire equipment contained in the kits is digital and interoperable and comes in a lasting, safe and ultra -adaptable case, ensuring that it remains safe and operational even when transported through difficult land.

«While the Telesalud is not new, the Covid-19 pandemic encouraged us to explore new possibilities in terms of taking advantage of the power of the Telesalud to provide primary medical care services in previously unattended areas of our region,» said Marcelo D’Agostino, head of the Unit for Digital Information and Health Systems in Paho.

«The kits can be operated by anyone in the field, from a local doctor to a community health worker, and are designed to connect digitally, facilitating the real -time interpretation of the results by a specialist who can be located thousands of miles away,» he added.

When obtained through the rotating funds of the PAHO, the Telesalud kits reduce the cost of buying the equipment separately by approximately 80%. Complements can also be obtained for more specialized care, including ultrasound and fetal monitor for prenatal medical care, and portable X -ray machines, which have already been key to increasing early diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in some countries in the region.

Paho works with countries in America in the development of Telesalud services from policy development, to planning, training and implementation. To facilitate this, Paho is everything in a Telesalud package includes open source software that can be integrated into existing health information systems. The software includes a system of electronic health records for the management of non -communicable diseases, as well as a videoconferencing module for teleconsultations.