Innovating for health
There are so many wonderful innovations happening at the ground level in India; it makes one feel good about being an Indian – a direct contrast to the feeling you get when you watch the bickering politicians and panelists on TV.
There is a truly life changing tablet – Swasthya Slate, which is the literal translation of Health tablet. This product, developed by Dr. Kanav Kahol of the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) measures everything from blood pressure to ECG to the presence of malarial parasites. Based on the Android software and can conduct 37 tests, including a fetal doppler to detect the heart function of fetuses. It has two parts – a 7or 8 inch tablet and a diagnostic box. This is path breaking in the sense that it takes the pathology lab to patients home. This may not seem like a big deal for us city dwellers but in remote villages and semi urban places, where access to labs is next to impossible, where sick people have to travel o the cities to merely get their blood and urine tests done, this Swasthya Slate is a true life saver.
These tablets have been launched on Jammu and Kashmir and some 4,000 Swasthya Slates would be used by ASHAs (Accredited Social Health Activists) as part of J&K's maternal health programme. And unlike developed countries, where any innovation comes at unaffordable prices, here in India, most of the innovations are priced low so that it can reach maximum number of people. Dr.Kahol had estimated, while developing the product that it would cost $1.8 million, and take about three years to create. However, it was completed it in three months at a cost of only $11,000. The slate’s software and hardware prototype cost is only Rs 7,000, excluding the cost of the Android device and once volumes come, cost is expected to dip substantially. The pilot tests, when conducted in Andhra, for 10 tests came at a charge of just Rs.78 and each state, depending on its cost structure will charge for use of these slates but surely, will be at a cost much lower than average market cost.
Its truly wonderful to know that a doctor, who has worked with Nobel laureate Dr Lee Hartwell at the University of Arizona's Biodesign Institute on creating "persuasive technology, is today working for PHFI and making life changing innovations. Imagine the power of India if we can nip the brain drain and retain such and greater talent within India itself.