[Use of telemedicine technology as a strategy to promote health care of riverside communities in the Amazon: experience with interdisciplinary work, integrating NHS guidelines].

This article aims at presenting an experience of professional and medical assistance education using telemedicine as a technology for the promotion and prevention in health care as well as professional qualification of the riverside population living in the margins of Madeira river, in the State of Rondônia. This project comprised a small pole of the telemedicine in the community of Santa Catarina, located by Madeira river, 200 km from the city of Porto Velho, Rondônia State. Field experience was performed between July 17 and 31, 2006, promoting the inclusion of inhabitants of nine riverside communities. The system allowed simultaneous, real time audio and video exchange providing the riverside communities with unique access to information, medical assistance, and lectures on prevention in basic health to the population in general. This project showed that the implantation of telemedicine is an alternative for a better distribution of health services. In addition to bringing assistance to people less favoured, it allows social reintegralization of people excluded due to geographic isolation, assists in information diffusion, proves education to the population and future system users, promotes prevention in health, developing responsibility of the population for a better quality of life of the region.