Nepal Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has launched a landmark telemedicine service in the country in an effort to boost health care in the rural areas with the financial and technical assistance from India.

The SAARC telemedicine centre has been established with an assistance of Rs 3.05 Crores from the Government of India under the SAARC telemedicine network project, according to Indian Embassy here.

Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL), a prime engineering and consultancy company under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, is the implementing agency for this prestigious project.

The assurance for the telemedicine service to Nepal was conveyed by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the 13th SAARC Summit held in Dhaka in 2005.

The MoU for the implementation of the project between India and Nepal was signed in June 2009.

Prime Minister Nepal said yesterday the service will prove beneficial for the rural population as it would provide comfortable and easy excess to health services to the people living in remote districts.

It has been difficult to take quality and affordable health services by establishing infrastructure due to geographical and technical problem, he said inaugurating the telemedicine service and SAARC telemedicine programme in the capital.

He said the government has been committed to provide primary health services to the rural population.

Indian Ambassador in Nepal Rakesh Sood, who was also present on the occasion, said the telemedicine service will help in providing quality service among the rural people.

"The Government of India is happy to establish the SAARC telemedicine centre that extends the geographic reach of medical care and provide people in remote and rural areas access to medical specialists," said the Indian Ambassador.

The telemedicine service will have the Central Coordination Desk at Patan Hospital in the capital. The service has now commenced in district hospitals in 25 mountainous districts across the country.

The programme initiated by the Ministry of Health and Population is expected to benefit rural people who have been deprived of quality health services due to geographical and technical difficulties.

Minister for Health and Population Umakanta Chaudhary said the programme will be effective to take specialist service to the rural areas.