Aiming at cost-effective promotion of healthcare systems, the Pune-based Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) has developed a ‘decision support system’ software with a knowledge base of integrative medicine, combining best practices in Allopath, Ayurveda, Homeopath and Yoga.

Named ‘Cure@Home’, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solution can help transcend the heterogeneity in India arising out of cultural, educational and regional differences, says Dr Medha Dhurndhar, Programme Coordinator, C-DAC which comes under the Central government’s department of Information and Technology.

“What began as a novel project to synergise the best medical systems on a single platform and integrating them onto the Information Technology bandwagon, has resulted in multiple offshoots that hold the promise of enhanced healthcare that is largely technology-driven.

Cure@Home, being one of them, is designed as a promotive, preventive and curative healthcare solution to the common man,” she explained at a media presentation.

The C-DAC solution, which attempts to combine the best of Indian medicine systems with modern technology, can be deployed on personal computers (desktops, laptops) or at kiosks (Touch Screen) and can have applications at home, clinics, hospitals, public places and schools as a healthcare tool.

The software is currently available in English, Hindi, Assamese and Bengali with plans to integrate other Indian languages in its repository.

The software applications also cover diet and lifestyle guidelines, analysis and storage of records pertaining to individual constitution and health status, home remedies with holistic solutions for primary care and prevention of symptoms and diseases as well as an encyclopedia containing a multi-media gallery of images, audio-video clips and articles to increase health awareness.

The benefits for the users, claimed by the C-DAC in-house team of experts from the medical and IT community, include information about prevention and primary care regarding diseases and emergency conditions, personalised diet plan helping to improve the quality of life, home remedies for minor ailment and disorders, creation and storage of electronic health record and various calculators for deciding body-mass index (BMI) waist-hip ratio and immunisation schedules.

It also has a region-specific angle detailing the therapeutic use of locally available medicinal plants and dietary recipes.

“Cure@Home addresses the healthcare needs of the common man at different levels — family, community and society”, Dr Dhurandhar said noting that the response to the ICT solution has been encouraging from individual users and healthcare community.

According to Mr Hemant Darbari, Executive Director, C-DAC, which developed the ‘Param’ supercomputer, the centre’s initiatives in integrative health informatics represent a unique facet of the changing face of its research and development.

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