KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 6): Telemedicine provider DOC2US is expanding to Myanmar as the technical partner of HOPE Telecare to help accelerate the development of the digital healthcare ecosystem in Myanmar.

In a statement on Wednesday, DOC2US said all-in-one digital healthcare platform HOPE Telecare is a joint venture (JV) among Myanmar’s Blue Ocean Investment Ltd, TELEMED Company Ltd and Heydoc International Sdn Bhd, which owns DOC2US.

DOC2US chief executive officer Dr Raymond Choy said the JV is the first step for DOC2US to extend its locally developed technology and healthcare solutions to countries beyond Malaysia.

He said by replicating DOC2US’ existing proven system and business model with “hyper-localised” elements, together with its partners, the firm aims to complement the physical healthcare ecosystem in Myanmar by freeing up physical medical resources to those who need it.

He added that with the number of Covid-19 cases continuing to rise in Myanmar, more state resources need to be channelled to combat the infection spread.

Meanwhile, HOPE Telecare chairman Htun Htun Naing said as about 70% of Myanmar’s population is living in rural areas where doctors are not easily found, while the Internet penetration rate is growing at more than 10% year-on-year from the current 43%, telemedicine is the way forward to improve the quality of care in the country.