Remote healing
The need of the hour is low-cost but high-impact models that propose innovative solutions to address India's health care crisis.
It is indeed heartening that President Barack Obama christened us an "emerged" economy and our GDP has grown in excess of eight per cent in successive quarters. What I am more keen to see, however, is how much of this number translates into inclusive growth. How do we ensure an improved quality of life for every citizen of our country? This will depend on improved access to health care, higher quality of education, better infrastructure and employment. The lack of quality health care is jeopardising our biggest strength of intellectual human capital. Reach and affordability remain the two biggest hurdles in the last mile of health care. We have one of the lowest expenditures on health as a percentage of GDP and also one of the lowest numbers of doctors per 10,000 citizens.
There are about 490-odd towns that have a population in excess of 100,000. This comprises just about 40 per cent of the Indian population. Beyond these towns, the access to quality health care deteriorates significantly. Life expectancy in rural India is significantly lower than in urban India. Only two MBBS doctors are available per 100,000 of rural population.
According to the National Council of Applied Economic Research, a rural patient in India spends between 1.5 and two times more on health care than an urban patient. The need of the hour is low-cost but high-impact models that propose innovative solutions to address India's health care crisis. The immediate mandate is for solutions that encompass technological advancements to ensure modern medicare reaches the fringes of India.
Telemedicine is one such revolutionary idea. Although initially considered "futuristic" and "experimental", telemedicine is today a reality and here to change the way we address health care. For a country the size of India, telemedicine allows easy access to remote areas; reduces the time and costs of patient transportation; helps with home care and ambulatory monitoring; improves communications between health providers separated by distance; improves public awareness, disaster management, disease surveillance and programme tracking; and even helps with medical education and clinical research.
We at the Piramal Foundation operate a health care initiative, Piramal e-Swasthya, in rural Rajasthan. Started in April 2008 at Bagar in Jhunjhunu district, e-Swasthya leverages mobile telephony to provide quality health care in remote villages with no appropriate doctor and health care facilities. There are several other successful telemedicine programmes run by the likes of the Department of Information Technology, Indian Space Research Organisation, NEC Telemedicine Program for North Eastern States, Apollo Hospitals, Asia Heart Foundation, public health initiatives like Health Management Research Institute (HMRI), eHealthPoint Services, etc.
Sceptics may argue that this is an idea ahead of its times, but the data proves otherwise. HMRI, which is now supported by Piramal Healthcare as a part of its corporate social responsibility efforts, has registered 1.16 crore patients. Its call centre receives about 45,000 calls on an average per day.
Despite such promising efforts, the challenges are immense. Foremost among these are governmental legislations; the medical fraternity's conviction and support; limited levels of private sector involvement; scepticism among patients; financial, infrastructure and technological constraints; quality; and human resources at the patient-facing end.
McKinsey & Co. projects that spending on health care in India will only rise. About 20 per cent of the Indian population is projected to be insured by 2015. This coverage will convince people to approach a health care centre irrespective of the mode of dispersal. Public-private partnerships, international non-profit organisations and social entrepreneurs can help drive implementation.
India can get to its promise of prosperity only if each one of us plays a role in building a healthy India so that we are able to reap the true dividend of a young demography.
There are about 490-odd towns that have a population in excess of 100,000. This comprises just about 40 per cent of the Indian population. Beyond these towns, the access to quality health care deteriorates significantly. Life expectancy in rural India is significantly lower than in urban India. Only two MBBS doctors are available per 100,000 of rural population.
According to the National Council of Applied Economic Research, a rural patient in India spends between 1.5 and two times more on health care than an urban patient. The need of the hour is low-cost but high-impact models that propose innovative solutions to address India's health care crisis. The immediate mandate is for solutions that encompass technological advancements to ensure modern medicare reaches the fringes of India.
Telemedicine is one such revolutionary idea. Although initially considered "futuristic" and "experimental", telemedicine is today a reality and here to change the way we address health care. For a country the size of India, telemedicine allows easy access to remote areas; reduces the time and costs of patient transportation; helps with home care and ambulatory monitoring; improves communications between health providers separated by distance; improves public awareness, disaster management, disease surveillance and programme tracking; and even helps with medical education and clinical research.
We at the Piramal Foundation operate a health care initiative, Piramal e-Swasthya, in rural Rajasthan. Started in April 2008 at Bagar in Jhunjhunu district, e-Swasthya leverages mobile telephony to provide quality health care in remote villages with no appropriate doctor and health care facilities. There are several other successful telemedicine programmes run by the likes of the Department of Information Technology, Indian Space Research Organisation, NEC Telemedicine Program for North Eastern States, Apollo Hospitals, Asia Heart Foundation, public health initiatives like Health Management Research Institute (HMRI), eHealthPoint Services, etc.
Sceptics may argue that this is an idea ahead of its times, but the data proves otherwise. HMRI, which is now supported by Piramal Healthcare as a part of its corporate social responsibility efforts, has registered 1.16 crore patients. Its call centre receives about 45,000 calls on an average per day.
Despite such promising efforts, the challenges are immense. Foremost among these are governmental legislations; the medical fraternity's conviction and support; limited levels of private sector involvement; scepticism among patients; financial, infrastructure and technological constraints; quality; and human resources at the patient-facing end.
McKinsey & Co. projects that spending on health care in India will only rise. About 20 per cent of the Indian population is projected to be insured by 2015. This coverage will convince people to approach a health care centre irrespective of the mode of dispersal. Public-private partnerships, international non-profit organisations and social entrepreneurs can help drive implementation.
India can get to its promise of prosperity only if each one of us plays a role in building a healthy India so that we are able to reap the true dividend of a young demography.
