1.1. Macro Review
Health is wealth. And as the numbers state, India’s ‘health’ is a sector that grows at a CAGR of 16.5%, poised to be worth $280 billion in ‘wealth’ by 2020. However, as one of the largest sectors in terms of both employment and revenue generation, the Indian healthcare sector is grappling with a flailing infrastructure that falls short of providing medical facilities to over a billion citizens.
Data gathered from the 71st National Sample Survey (NSS) conducted in January-June 2014 observed that in rural India, 42 % of medical treatment was conducted in public hospitals against 58% in private facilities.
In urban India, the correlating figures were stark; at 32% and 68% for public and private hospitals respectively. Another formidable challenge in the healthcare space is the geographical disparity between patient and medical help. A report by KPMG and the Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) states that nearly 75 percent of dispensaries, 60 percent of hospitals and 80 percent of doctors are located in urban areas, which serves only 28 percent of the Indian population.
This disparity grows wider in rural areas, which houses over 70% of Indian population. Rural patients have access to only about 33% of Indian doctors to nurse them back to health.
Currently, 1 doctor serves approximately 1668 people. The doctor-patient ratio in rural areas of India is 1:20,000, while the urban ratio is 1:2,000.
Mobile Health presents a promising solution to this problem. Mobile technology has already spurted over 20 service initiatives for spreading information about health and fitness, childbirth and prenatal care and leading lifestyle diseases.
The mobile health industry in India clocked 0.6 billion USD in 2017 via the launch of over 3,25,000 health apps in the market; a powerful indicator of the prowess of the digital intervention and the times to come.