Health care for people living in remote and inaccessible areas of the Upper Amazon in Peru is provided by a system of small health outposts and health centres in the forest. These have neither telephones, nor grid electricity. The health workers are very isolated. They have no means of communicating with colleagues or hospitals in towns and have to travel long distances to get help.
In collaboration with the Catholic University of Peru, the Madrid Association of 'Engineers without Frontiers' (ISF) has installed a series of VHF radio systems across an area of the Upper Amazon. Each system is powered by solar PV technology and has a radio transceiver connected to an on-site computer that allows both voice and data communication. Between them, the systems are supporting the health care of about 50,000 people. Health workers in 39 sites are now able to speak to colleagues, send emails and access information from the internet through intermediaries in Lima, the capital.
The ability to communicate has dramatically improved the efficiency of health care in the Upper Amazon. Urgent evacuation of patients can be organised more quickly and a hospital notified of a patient's transfer, allowing them to be prepared. Access to medical information and experts in Lima is giving health workers the chance to ask for advice and improve their diagnoses and treatments. It has also improved the epidemiological surveillance in the area and has provided them with a chance to study through distance-training courses.
