TELEMEDICINE FOR THE RURAL AREAS IN ASEAN : THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Information and communication technology (ICT) is one of the main solutions that occur in every country, both developing and developed countries. One of the use ICT in the field of affordable health care at a cost effective without forgetting the quality, in the other hand it can be accessed by people from various groups. Telemedicine is one form of ICT that is used to overcome geographic barriers and improve access to health care. Telemedicine as a new breakthrough in the field of health technology can be via e-mail, voice or visual. Telemedicine can cover a variety of things ranging from very common and can include diagnosis and management, faculty, patients and the general population and administrative meetings. ASEAN is a region consisting of several developing countries that have considerable health problems. Telemedicine opportunities can be seen from the benefits of helping to monitor the health of the region, which like the Philippines and Indonesia is an archipelagic country that will benefit from telemedicine as it can facilitate remote monitoring and consultation. however, the challenges faced are also severe as they will be subject to limited technological and information facilities in rural areas as well as resources that have not been able to use telemedicine. But telemedicine has a great opportunity to be developed further in the region of ASEAN through enhancement of cooperation and development programs of ASEAN itself.