From 17 to 21 September San Diego women’s prison (Colombia) is hosting Health Week. This will involve a pilot trial of antari, GMV’s inhouse telemedicine development, with the prison inmates being attended by specialist doctors under a telemedicine arrangement.

During the days of the pilot trial the inmates of San Diego prison will be able to have remote medical attention in the disciplines of internal medicine, gynaecology, psychiatry and surgery, with on the spot attendance by general doctors directed by video-conference support from specialists advising them remotely from the technology building of Cartagena University, which will act as the referral point for specialized healthcare.

The aim of this pilot trial is to show how new technologies can provide timely and specialist medical attention for a precise diagnosis of the prisoner’s complaint.

The technology platform developed by GMV enables the prison to cut costs, since it will be able to schedule more efficiently the transfer of prisoners to medical centers on the basis of the remote diagnosis. In the words of Dr. Pomares, doctor educator of the University of Cartagena de Indias, who is leading this initiative, this arrangement will reduce transport costs and also the cost of security forces to accompany the prisoners on their hospital visits.

The Spanish firm GMV is helping to organize this initiative, providing the technological platform making real time healthcare attention possible, whatever the distance. Fellow organizers are Cartagena University, the foundation Progreso y Salud del Caribe, Dadis, Ese Cartagena de Indias and institutions like Educosta, Ecosalud and Cruz Roja (Red Cross), which will provide the on-the-spot prisoner healthcare staff (nurse educators and doctors and students in the various medical disciplines).