Introduction

Health problems in isolated areas and islands continue to exist in the New Millennium and the Western World as well as in the Mediterranean Area. Telemedicine proposes itself as a chance to help solve these problems; it is not a panacea but can undoubtedly offer benefits for physicians’ decision-making in remote areas. If we search for words such as “Telemedicine”, “Telemedicine remote areas”, “Rural Telemedicine” etc on Internet search engines (Google for example), we get lots of information and the same happens with the expression “Telemedicine islands”. However, the application of Telemedicine in remote areas is still difficult, due, first of all, to “human factors” and cultural background. In 1997 two men (see background) met by chance in Tilos and started a pioneer project called TIMTEM. It seems hard to believe that this “little” project is now included in the list of “History of Telemedicine” on the Webhttp://web.ktarn.or.jp/kurume-u-hp/telemed.html

This little “history” has faced a lot of troubles, fighting against political, economical and cultural barriers; anyway, we can today affirm that The telemedicine station in Livadia-Tilos is running on a new path presenting itself as a “model” for other islands in the Mediterranean Area. Our “little” history can be fully explored on Internet and we would like to invite you to read about the next step of our website clicking on “OUR BACKGROUND”. Last updating (July 2002) is a detailed synthesis of all the work done so far.

For a complete report please see (Δείτε τις σχετικές πληροφορίες στη δ/νση http://users.otenet.gr/~timtem/html/intro.html )

TIMTEM PROJECT, September 10, 2002