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NGOs pioneering healthtech

Introduction

In almost every field, from agriculture to aviation, technological advancements improve functions and make processes more efficient. The medical field is one of the areas that has benefited most from these technological improvements such as the use of tele-medicine to treat patients in remote areas that have no access to hospitals or doctors. From the time of the Industrial Revolution to the Digital Revolution, equipment has enhanced diagnosis, treatment and follow-up care for people across the world.

How technological advancements revolutionize healthcare

Healthtech is the use of digital technology in the field of medicine. In addition to making medical procedures more precise and accurate, healthtech also makes medical care more accessible and affordable to people living in remote or rural areas. Telemedicine is one example of this. There are areas where people do not have access to hospitals or doctors for hundreds of kilometers. In places such as forests or jungles, where large communities dwell, the use of video-conferencing to consult doctors and diagnose patients is changing lives.

How NGOs utilize and implement healthtech

NGOs across India are adapting and responding to rapid changes being made in the areas of healthcare which have seen an increasing use of digital technology to improve medical services offered to people. Healthtech is making great strides in enabling more accurate diagnoses and treatment options for patients. This is significant for NGOs who provide free medical treatment to people from underprivileged communities who cannot afford doctor’s visits, medication, treatment or surgical procedures.

But there are groundbreaking NGOs across India that are using devices such as laptops and smartphones to monitor their patients’ health, provide follow up care, maintain records and ensure people without access to medical care receive the medical attention needed. NGOs also apply advances in healthtech to spread life-saving knowledge on preventative and precautionary measures to people who lack medical information. These are simple measures that can be implemented to ensure that people have healthier lives.

But the areas where healthtech is experiencing the greatest innovation is in the areas of artificial intelligence or AI. AI-powered devices are already able to detect diseases and even predict health conditions and risks in patients. Robotic surgical equipment is also making medical procedures more accurate and reducing the changes of medical errors. With DNA investigations becoming more prominent in the areas of medicine, people can also determine their likelihood of certain conditions and diseases that are genetic in nature.

Here are 5 NGOs in India that are pioneering healthtech:

  • Neonates Foundation of India: Neonates Foundation of India is an NGO that provides neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) support to premature infants in need of urgent medical intervention. Premature babies face serious danger since important organ development occurs during the last few weeks of pregnancy but they are born before term. Neonates Foundation of India connects families to a network of hospitals that have state-of-the-art incubators and medical professionals who provide round-the-clock care to babies who are fighting for their lives in the neonatal ICU. Based in Bengaluru, Neonates Foundation of India has been saving the lives of premature babies’ lives and supporting their families since 2018.
  • ARMMAN: ARMMAN (Advancing Reduction In Mortality And Morbidity Of Mothers, Children And Neonates) is an NGO in Mumbai that uses the latest mobile technology to empower mothers and ensure that their children are in the best health possible. The organization’s “tech plus touch” approach makes use of the widespread mobile reach across India to connect people to much needed healthcare. ARMMAN’s programs include free voice call services for pregnant mothers and their families, mobile training courses for ASHA workers, training for nurses and midwives supported by a multimedia-rich learning app and routine communication. ARMMAN has impacted 56 million women and their children and 480,000+ health workers across 28 states since 2008.
  • SNEHA: SNEHA (Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action) is an NGO that was founded by neonatologists in Mumbai in the early 1990s. The aim of SNEHA is to improve the health and nutrition of women and children from disadvantaged backgrounds with a specific emphasis on people in urban slum settlements. SNEHA’s training programs, capacity building sessions and data sharing leverages technology to devise solutions to issues affecting mother and child health issues such as malnutrition, anemia and stunted growth through neonatal and antenatal care. For decades, SNEHA has reached more than 2 lakh reproductive-age women, over 1 lakh children and 4 lakh households with continuous maternal and child health care.
  • Lords Education & Health Society: Lords Education & Health Society is an organization with the vision to provide medical care of the highest quality to people from underprivileged communities. Based in New Delhi, Lords Education & Health Society applies tech-based solutions to its services. The NGO’s Digital Health and Wellness Centers digitizes health services and implements telemedicine, e-health records, digital prescriptions, a digital inventory management tool and the Swasthya ATM that dispenses medication using QR codes where pharmacies are not available. This healthtech supports frontline health workers as well as local communities and has served a total of 68.3 million beneficiaries in 1,000+ clinics across 6 states since 2014.
  • Mahan Trust: Mahan Trust is a NGO that traveled deep into the Melghat forests in Maharashtra to provide medical care to tribal communities. Founded in 1997, the organization arrived in the forest area to see no medical facilities present. The people would seek the advice of witchdoctors and local healers and their conditions worsened. Dr. Satav started his medical practice in a hut in the late 1990s which has now grown into a multispeciality hospital with inpatient and outpatient facilities, an operation theater, an intensive care unit, and specialized care for Pediatrics, Gynecology and Obstetrics, ENT, Ophthalmology, Pathology and other areas. In more than 28 years of medical care, the NGO has reduced the disease and mortality rates significantly.

In this new digital era which is adopting newer and more futuristic practices that were once unthinkable, the field of medicine is one of the greatest benefactors. NGOs across India are leading the way in implementing advancements in healthtech to patients who are often from disadvantaged communities in both urban and rural India. Give Discover examines the innovative and life-saving work of these NGOs and invites people to learn more about their mission.