Apollo Hospitals and Airtel Africa will launch Ask-Apollo, a healthcare service from a medical team at Apollo Hospitals.

Ask Apollo, a web and mobile enabled patient-centric service, enables patients to consult with doctors at any time, from anywhere around the world. This technology platform allows one to talk to doctors, face-to-face interaction through video conferencing, or connect with them via voice or email.

One can upload clinical information including reports, images and scans, to be analyzed by Apollo experts, who can then provide an opinion within a stipulated time, said Airtel Africa.

Apollo Hospitals has a network of 64 hospitals, 2,200 retail pharmacy stores, 100 primary care & diagnostic clinics, health insurance services, clinical research division and 15 academic institutions including a medical school.

Sangita Reddy, joint managing director of Apollo Hospitals Group, and Raghunath Mandava, chief operating officer of Airtel Africa, signed an MoU to this effect. This service will enable Airtel Africa customers access personalized advice in real time thereby bringing healthcare services at their fingertips.

Airtel Africa will provide discounted consultation and enable easy payment options through Airtel Money or the customers Airtime.

India receives a lot of patients from Africa for medical treatment and Apollo Hospitals has realized that some of the African patients traveling to India remain misguided about their health condition which could instead be treated in Africa.