The Telemedicine Reference Center Ltd (TRCL) and FONEMED Announce Rural Health Initiative for Bangladesh

Washington, DC  November 5, 2002 - Secretary of Health and Family Welfare of Government of Bangladesh, M. Fazlur Rahman, officiated today at signing ceremonies of an agreement between The Telemedicine Reference Center Ltd (TRCL) of Bangladesh and FONEMED Global Health Services (www.fonemed.com). Under the pact FONEMED will assist TRCL to expand access to health care and create physician networks throughout Bangladesh. The team is collaborating with leading university medical centers, international financial institutions and foundations in extending family health care to rural communities and connecting doctors from remote cites to national and international telehealth facilities.

In the presence of officials from the Asia Development Bank, Nebraska Health System and Summa Foundation, Secretary Rahman stated: “Bangladesh faces enormous challenges in bringing health care to rural families. We see information technology as an economical means to empower our doctors to deliver a higher level of care and improve outcomes.”

Dr Sikder M. Zakir, President & CEO of TRCL, added:  “With the help of FONEMED and our other supporters we are delivering concrete programs, beginning with remote cardiac care, to connect doctors and their patients around the country to the TRCL center in Dhaka and to global medical advances.”

Ken Bleakley, President of FONEMED, responded: “Dr. Zakir has a vision of how information technology can improve the people of his country’s access to health information and services that FONEMED shares. With a strong public/private partnership Bangladesh can lead the way to better health care for all.”

About Telemedicine Reference Center Ltd.

Telemedicine Reference Center Ltd. (TRCL), headed by Dr. Sikder M. Zakir, provides low-cost technological and medical solutions to healthcare organizations in developing countries and has pioneered development of international teleconsultation services in Bangladesh in partnership with University of Nebraska Medical Center / Nebraska Health System (UNMC/NHS) and Second Opinion Software, LLC. TRCL is implementing an ambitious rural telehealthcare system in Bangladesh, where rural doctors will be provided with expert medical consultative services from capital city Dhaka (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2288619.stm). Although it is a privately funded project, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of People’s Republic of Bangladesh is playing a significant role in TRCL’s rural telehealthcare program implementation.

About FONEMED

FONEMED® uses communications technology to provide individuals with round-the-clock, telephone or web-based access to medical advice, information, products, and services. It provides outsourced nurse triage services from its North American Medical Call Center. It also supplies qualified national and international partners with the tools, technology, and know-how to operate proprietary Health Information Centers as either installed systems or with concession agreements. For more information, visit www.fonemed.com or call 1-800-FONEMED.