In 1995, an Ohio-based INGO, United Hands to Nepal (UHN), came up with an idea: serve rural hospitals in Nepal through telehealth by connecting doctors and nurses in Nepal to doctors in Columbus, Ohio. That is how telemedicine was born in Nepal. Dr. Anu Amatya was one of the founding directors of UHN and played an instrumental role in creating it — while undergoing her postgraduate paediatric training at Columbus Children’s Hospital in Ohio, USA.
Telemedicine eliminates the difficulties of distance and allows prompt access to essential medical care. During travel, bandhas, at night and after hours — or at times like the pandemic, when leaving home wasn’t possible — it keeps families connected to their own doctor.
What makes it work so well at Kopila is the records: for more than two decades we have maintained the clinical data of every child who visits us. When you consult from your sofa in Kathmandu — or from the US, Australia or Europe — the doctor has your child’s growth, development, immunizations, medications and test results in front of her. That is the difference between a video call with a stranger and a real consultation with your child’s own doctor.