As we enter a new year, Express Healthcare marks its 14th anniversary, with a new layout and design. In fact, with general elections around the corner, the nation seems to be gearing up for change on all fronts.
The healthcare sector too is ripe for change. For our anniversary issue, Express Healthcare decided to analyse two important drivers of change: technology and policy. Our cover story (Are you ready to capitalise on disruptive healthcare technologies?; pages 22-25) profiles six such technologies. This is followed by industry experts talking about how each technology already exists in India via their products and services or is being researched at their laboratories. (Pages 26-33)
We round off the ‘Technovations for 2014’ theme with the Cleveland Clinic’s list of top 10 up-and-coming technologies predicted to have a great impact in the year ahead. (Pages 34-40)
All the technologies in the world need an enabling policy framework and most important, good implementation of these policies. Our ‘Policies for Change’ section has industry experts analysing existing policies and regulations which have the possibilities to transform India and its healthcare sector and what must be done to plug the gaps. (Pages 42-55)
For instance, mobile phones are today much more than communication devices. The mHealth wave has already touched the shores of rural India: ASHAs update health information as part of the NRHM, BBC Media Action’s Mobile Kilkari project sends SMS reminders to pregnant women across eight districts in Bihar.
Urban India has already taken their health into their own hands, aided by nifty gadgets like glucometers with embedded sensors which transform them into personal health monitors. These gizmos also link them to the expanding ‘Internet of Things’, a repository of health information, which can be accessed by both patient as well as clinician anywhere, any time.
Companies are churning out prototypes of technology tools previously limited to sci-fi movies. For instance, advanced robotics has given amputees new age prosthetics which they can control simply by small muscle contractions. Further research might even allow them to control their prosthetics with just their brain waves!
Moving further into the realm of science fiction, with next-generation genomics tools, we could actually ‘play God’ by creating custom organisms simply by writing or re-writing DNA sequences. We have already created advanced materials like gold nanoparticles, which are part of experimental life saving medicines while 3-D printing will one day allow organs, tissue and medical implants to be ‘printed’ in laboratories.
India is no stranger to innovations. In fact, in her Presidential Address at FICCI’s 86th AGM, Naina Lal Kidwai reminded us that way back in 2009, the Jaipur Foot made it to Time magazine’s list of the world’s 50 best innovations. She also spotlighted healthcare icons like Aravind Eye Care and Narayan Hrudayalaya which have proved to the world that complex cataract operations and heart surgery can be done at a fraction of the costs, while still maintaining top quality.
But these are triumphs of private enterprises. Are policy makers playing their part to facilitate such innovations in healthcare delivery? Also, how do we ensure that these disruptive waves do not bypass our rural populations?
For instance, not every woman in our villages is empowered enough to own a mobile phone and even if she did, would she be literate enough to use it? There have been hiccups in the roll out of NRHM as many ASHAs themselves found it difficult to key in data into their phones. But there is hope and these glitches are being fixed so that the mHealth revolution spreads to every district.
Here’s hoping that 2014 will see better implementation so that the vision behind these policies becomes a reality for every citizen of India.
Do write in with comments and suggestions on our new design and layout. And of course, best wishes for the year ahead !
Viveka Roychowdhury
Editor
