Carethics

One sees the increase in health care knowledge and technology, yet health care is not accessible to those who most need it. Increasing the accessibility to health care especially in developing countries like India means increasing the affordability to health care and increasing affordability can come only with innovation: innovation of drugs, technology, business models, strategies, practices and policies.

Biocon is one such company that has kept “affordable innovation” as its motto right from the beginning. As per the source, Biocon has adopted the strategy of forming symbiotic partnerships with companies around the world to create and deliver value. They believe that such research and marketing partnerships help share risks, costs and also complement to fill the other’s gap, which in turn speeds up the pace of development.

For example, Biocon has partnered with the Centre for Molecular Immunology (CIM) in Cuba, to develop products for the head and neck cancers, since millions in India, especially in the poorer sections suffer from such cancers due to tobacco consumption. Affordability of the product, due to such partnerships helped benefit thousands, who otherwise would not have been able to afford and hence access the medication.

Thus, to ensure health care for all , such innovative practices and collaborations should be pursued more aggressively by the all the health care service providers, especially in developing countries like India, where drugs for malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS are yet inaccessible to all.

After covering 46 countries, Wrigley launched the ‘Wrigley Oral Healthcare Program’ in India. The program aims to help the dental professionals with information and resources required to encourage among their patients: oral-care routine. The program will incorporate the Indian consumer lifestyles and eating patterns, while supporting the independent clinical research in preventive dentistry, designing education programs, conferences and framing brochures and other reading literature.

According to the source, on the occasion of World Oral Health Day, Orbit sugar-free chewing gum, in collaboration with Indian Dental Association (IDA), partnered with 60 dentists in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru for conducting free oral check-ups. Also, people were offered Orbit as a preventive measure for tooth decay. In fact, according to Wrigley’s clinical research chewing a sugar-free gum like Orbit can reduce tooth decay by 40%. On the same day, phone lines at Radio Mirchi were made open for free dental consultancy.

The program will also leverage on the digital media to cultivate the importance of oral health and educate the consumers on the same. WOHP is also looking to soon launch a website www.wohp.co.in for the same!

As per India eNews, Chandigarh has been declared the best in blood transfusion services by National Aids Control Organization (NACO). Chandigarh has achieved this status through voluntary blood donation campaigns.

What more, it has taken this drive one step forward and intends to set up blood collection centers even in the malls! This will increase the citizen’s involvement and make blood donation more accessible and easier for the people seeking to do so.

Infact, 80% of the blood in the 4 licensed blood banks of Chandigarh, is through voluntary blood donations. These just not cater to the blood needs of the city but also of some neighbouring areas of Punjab and Haryana.

Chandigarh has collected 54,742 units of blood till September this year and collects approximately 115 units of blood each day! A great benchmark set for the other states to follow suit.

Though India has achieved some great feats on the economic front in the past decade, it has not managed to pass on the benefits to the health care sector as desired. As per the source, some 700 million people in India still lack access to care by specialists, partly because four out of five specialists live in urban areas far from the large rural population.

At such times it is a pleasure to have institutes like the Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI) – not-for-profit organization to implement technology-based solutions to bridge this gap.

With its 108 emergency-service number, EMRI provides free medical, police and fire emergencies in a number of states such as Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Goa, Chennai, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Assam. It operates 1,300 technology backed ambulances in the country side of the aforesaid states, with web-based applications connecting the mobile units to hospitals and physicians. However, it plans to go national by 2010 with more than 10,000 ambulances.

So far, more than 3,000 hospitals have become members of the rural outreach program; in the first year itself 3,00,000 emergencies have been serviced and 11,500 lives have been saved!

We like it when the health care stakeholders introduce new technology to serve their customers better. As per the source - Modern Medicare, Lilavati Hospital recently inaugurated its dental clinic with a new-technology microscope, which allows more accurate, faster healing, micro dental surgeries. Patients will also be able to view their own root canal treatment through real time live display.

More sophisticated, automatic chairs and equipments will be used, specially benefitting the more serious dental issues such as jaw fractures and injuries.

Cosmetic and aesthetic dentistry treatments are also available.

We all know that India is termed the World Diabetes Capital and if estimates are true by 2030 there will be 79.4 million Indians suffering from diabetes. I read a very interesting article in DNA Money, stating that though all the major pharmaceutical companies have joined the bandwagon for bringing out novel diabetic drugs, there is barely one company -Eli Lilly, a US drug major who is conducting clinical trials for a drug that aims at targeting diabetec blindness or as they call it in medical jargon – diabetic retinopathy. No oral medication is available at present for this illness; and the current treatments: laser treatment, avastin injection and surgery are limited, have side effects and burn a hole in the pocket.

At a time when 20% of the Indian diabetics could lose vision and the risk for diabetics contracting blindness is 25% more than a non-diabetics, the drug ‘ruboxistaurin’ by Eli Lilly may be a major blessing!

Alternative medicine and therapies have been part of India since ancient times. However, it is only recently that the wellness industry has started getting organized and showing promise. The wellness industry can be divided into two groups: wellness services and wellness products. According to a FICCI – Ernst & Young report: “At the end of 2008, the wellness services market stood at Rs 11,000 crore and the wellness products industry was around Rs 16,000 crore. With an overall estimated CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of over 20% till 2012, this combination of products and services represents the untapped potential that we seek to communicate to the various stakeholders in the wellness industry through our report.”

The report classifies the wellness industry into seven core segments as depicted below:

Rising stress levels, changing lifestyles and societal changes have increased the need for one to balance, both the body and the mind. Wellness services and products have also been received well by the corporate clients who give great importance to employee welfare.

Thus, one is sure to see great potential and rise of this industry.

• Out of 175 countries ranked by W.H.O, India ranks 5^th from the bottom, i.e. ranks 171, in terms of public health spending as a proportion of the GDP
• India spends only 0.9 % of the GDP on public health
• In contrast China spends 6% of its GDP on public health

‘Publicness’ Of Health – A very interesting article highlighting the prevailing health conditions and trends in India

For all the women who have had bad obstetric history and cannot have a normal pregnancy, there is now a ray of hope. GG Hospital Fertility Research Centre has reported India’s first frozen oocyte pregnancy. Chennai-based GG Hospital, also has the credit for being the first hospital in south India to deliver a test tube baby.

Aspiring parents – Know more on the procedure and costs

Clinical trials for inhalable measles vaccine are expected to begin in India next year. Around 2,00,000 children are a victim of this disease annually, in India. Should this method prove to be effective it will not only allay the fears of contracting HIV through infected needles but also help this vaccine reach the rural parts of India, which lack proper electricity and refrigeration facilities required for liquid vaccines.

This method may also prove to be more advantageous than the conventional liquid vaccine.

To know more, click here!