Telecom Lead Asia: Chip major Qualcomm, through its
Wireless Reach initiative and Xi’an Kingtone Information, in
association with China Children and Teenagers’ Fund, have launched mobile
vision project.
The project leverages 3G-enabled mobile application
developed by Xi’an Kingtone, smartphones powered by Qualcomm chipsets and 3G
connectivity to assist doctors for collecting information for treating children
with amblyopia in underserved communities in China.
Amblyopia is the most common cause of vision impairment
in childhood. In China, a key reason for lack of treatment is that clinicians
in rural areas often lack the knowledge on how to diagnose and care for
children. Financial hardship prevents children in remote areas from traveling
to urban areas for therapy.
Wireless Reach, Xi’an Kingtone Information and China
Children and Teenagers’ Fund will implement the Mobile Vision Project to
address these challenges.
The project will be implemented at Hengshui City Maternal
and Child Care Service Center (MCCSC) and other public health centers in Hebei
Province.
It utilizes a mobile application that enables data collection
and analysis, as well as helps with patient screening and diagnosis, to provide
accurate statistics. The system gives clinicians access to an online
ophthalmology database for a collection of eye care information.
Hengshui Women’s Federation and China Children and
Teenagers’ Fund provided support for the project through their specialized
institution focusing on children with amblyopia. The Mobile Vision project
serves approximately 400,000 children and teenagers up to the age of 14.
Eye care professionals received 3G-enabled smartphones,
laptop computers, PCs and mobile broadband connectivity via China Telecom’s 3G
EV-DO network.
County health workers can electronically review patients’
health records for screening and then refer children needing further treatment
to city-level public health centers. City-level health workers also can access
the system to obtain directions on how to treat and cure patients.
The Mobile Vision Project began in October 2011. Today,
50 township-level clinics regularly use the system in their daily medical
practice and an additional 71 clinics are registered to roll out the system in
the coming months. Of the 1,144 eye exams collected to
date, 684 resulted in a diagnosis of amblyopia.
Since 2006, Qualcomm has been committed to demonstrating
the use of advanced wireless technology to improve health care, education and
entrepreneurship in China,” said Xiang Wang, senior vice president and
president of Qualcomm Greater China.