(Consent obtained) Sion, Mumbai, MahaSion, Mumbai, MahaSion, Mumbai, Maharashtra, INDIA..Counsellor takes hand measure of Gokul Vitthal Diphale inside Pediatrics Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Centre at Lokmanya Tilak Hospital in Mumbai. The State Government of Maharashtra with support of UNICEF piloting a telemedicine programme designed to extend HIV care to those at a distance from hospitals. Funding for the programme comes from the Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society (MSACS). Telemedicine allows health workers in remote areas to consult with specialists by telephone, Internet or other means, regarding patient diagnosis, care and treatment. This technology already exists in 29 hospitals in Maharashtra for general adult medical care. But although these hospitals also ART for HIV, telemedicine had not previously been used for patients living with the virus. With MAC AIDS funding, UNICEF is implementing telemedicine for paediatric HIV in 26 of Maharashtra's 35 districts. The initiative will connect ART centres at local hospitals with the state's Paediatrics Centre of Excellence in Mumbai- one of seven throughout India. The districts participating in the project were chosen based on their infrastructure and availability of equipment needed for telemedicin. The project will also provide planning, monitoring and evaluation for a cohort follow-up of HIV-exposed infants during Maharashtra's roll-out of the triple ARV regimen for all pregnant women living with HIV during pregnancy and through the breastfeeding period.

UNICEF India/2015/Dhiraj Singh.