Digital Health could prove to be a gamechanger in achieving India’s goal of Universal Health Coverage by 2030 if the country increases its investment in innovation and creates a robust healthcare ecosystem according to Amit Mookim, Managing Director, South Asia, IQVIA. He is also the governing council member of NATHEALTH. Further, TS Trimurti, Secretary Economics Relations (Ministry of External Affairs) has divulged that the Prime Minister has announced that India will be hosting a BRICS Digital Health Summit on innovative solutions that would lead to a healthy lifestyle and that will seek to integrate digital technology with healthcare informatics and diagnostics and this initiative will be in tandem with Modi’s Fit India movement
Also, Apple Inc has recently launched an app that enables users to enrol in three health studies which allows them to share health related data for medical research. The studies are conducted in partnership with research institutes such as Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the NIHs National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The participants who are using the Apple Watch and iPhones can contribute to this study by providing useful data around movement, heart rate and noise levels captured during everyday activities and users can also control the type of data they wish to share for the study.
The latest study says that wearable smart technologies have transformed the ability to monitor and improve health but a low-tech commodity – a toilet is set to outperform all these technologies. The Coon Research Group is now designing a toilet that will utilize a portable mass spectrometer that will be able to identify the individual and process samples across a wide range of subjects. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Morgridge Institute for Research are collaborating to put together the wide range of metabolic health information contained in urine in order to work for personalised medicine. Urine shows the history of an individual’s nutritional habits, exercise, medication use and sleep patterns. It also exhibits the metabolic links to more than 600 human conditions, including some of the major killers such as cancer, diabetes and kidney disease. For conducting this study, two research subjects consistently collected all urine samples over a period of 10 days and submitted those samples for tests with both gas chromatography and mass spectrometry for obtaining metabolic signatures.
Several start-ups have led innovation in digital health through the efficient use of tech-enabled services whether in the management of hospital information systems or management of NCDs like diabetes or even food and nutrition management. The rapid advancements in healthcare IT such as cloud-based storage system and increasing usage of smartphones and tablets are the major factors driving the growth of the digital health market as per the report published by Value Market Research. The management of chronic diseases too has become more efficient and some chronic diseases, like diabetes, can be effectively managed via digital health. Digital intervention can also ensure the last-mile delivery of medicines. The population today is better informed and aware of health and fitness.
However, the adoption of digital health in India has been slow due to lack of funding, incubation opportunities, the lack of adequate investment in research, development and commercialisation of innovations is killing the spirit of innovation. India aims to achieve the goal of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030. Ayushman Bharat Mission with its two components – Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojna (PMJAY) and Health & Wellness Centres (HWCs) – is expected to be the great enabler in achieving this goal.
Naira Shekhawat has been into Content Writing just after completing her Graduation in English Literature. Her love for words has won her many accolades in her respective jobs ever since. Naira covers business sections for VMR News. She is a traveller by heart and loves writing on food blogs as a freelancer.