Why Healthcare Needs CSR Boost?

Despite being a major destination for medical tourism and the fastest growing economy, India’s progress in healthcare is slower not just by OECD standards but also as per the standards of the developing world. When compared with emerging economies and its neighbours, India faces a bigger disease burden.

Here are some of the facts which highlight the state of health care in India:

1. India has one of the highest disease burdens (20%) in the world.

2. More people die in India of preventable diseases than anywhere.

3. India still accounts for 27% of neonatal deaths, 23% of infant deaths and 23% of TB deaths in the world. Out of the total neonatal deaths, 35% are due to lack of nutrition.

4. Every fifth person in India suffers from a chronic disease and more than 6 out of 10 people die from non-communicable diseases.

5. Cancer cases in India are also likely to rise by 25 per cent by 2020 from 1.4 million to 1.7 million by 2020.

6. Disease burden to cost India $6.2 trillion by 2030.

7. Between 1990 and 2010 premature deaths from cardiovascular diseases increased by 59 per cent to 37 million from 23.2 million.

8. Nearly 40% of the Indian population of all ages has mycobacterium tuberculosis infection; and there are about 85 lakh people with TB at any given time.

9. The US has 2.5 doctors and 11.1 nurses per 1000 population, while India has 0.7 Doctors and 1.1 Nurses per 1000 population.

10. India’s ambitious National Health Policy plans to increase public spending on health from 1.15% to 2.5% by 2025, when only 17.33% of the lower income classes having access to free health care.

It is clear that the government alone won’t be able to address all the health care issues. Although the National Health Policy 2017 has been approved, the target set promises little.

Corporations should see this gap as an opportunity to partner with the government to play a responsible role in improving the health care system. What we have been witnessing so far is their focus on health camps, building hospitals or donating equipment to hospitals. Most of these activities can only generate short-term impact and the targets are poorly set.

Instead, businesses can train local youths while pharmacists can be trained to prescribe medicines for minor ailments. One example is the Fiinovation and RPG foundation partnership to train youths in ‘patient care’. Similarly, companies could fund medical education to reduce the significant shortage of doctors and nurses. The concept of barefoot doctors in China can be implemented in rural areas. Additionally, CSR funds can also be utilized to provide medical treatment and promote traditional medicines.

 

By Rahul Choudhury

Media & Communications, Fiinovation

Importance of Professionals in Corporate Social Responsibility – Fiinovation

The advent of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in India opened new avenues for employment for people belonging to the social development sector. The mandate under the Companies Act, 2013 made it a more focused area for the businesses which might look at CSR in a strategic manner. Hence, the effectiveness of CSR initiatives lies in the hands of CSR professionals who are well versed about the concept and can utilize the initiatives for benefiting the organization.

It has been observed that in most of the businesses, there is still no CSR department, rather it’s the Human Resource department or the senior management which takes care of such initiatives, that too because of mandatory compliance. When called to enquire regarding the CSR department, most of the times the calls are answered by the HR and not by the CSR committee members. This brings us to the question that, are the businesses really serious about giving back to the society or considers CSR as a tick-box exercise?

The presence of CSR professionals in the organization is definitely an indicator of the seriousness of the initiatives. There are several benefits attached to having a CSR professional within the organization. Not only it provides chances to improve the social return on investment, but also improves the communication of CSR initiatives to the stakeholders. As a brand, businesses look to increase their consumer base and market outreach. CSR definitely provides an opportunity to boost the brand value, and the CSR professionals do play a significant role in devising implementation strategies.

Globally, leading CSR professionals have moved one step ahead and are looking not just to initiate ‘give back’ projects, rather incorporate the concept of being a responsible organization across the value chain. They help the corporate communications department to put a number on the value that has been created through the CSR initiatives. It is always recommended to not to give the job of handling the CSR manager position to someone in the HR or any other department, so that there can be a complete analysis on the social return on investment.

With increasing competition among the businesses, CSR could be an innovative mechanism to differentiate a brand from its competitors. The increase in effectiveness of the CSR programmes due to the presence of CSR professionals is definitely a motivating factor for the socially responsible investors. It is also due to the increasing demand of CSR professionals in the businesses and business foundations that several b-schools have started offering degrees in CSR. It is expected that in the years to come, the businesses which doesn’t have CSR professionals will look to recruit them to optimize their social return on investments. Hence, for a CSR professional the future seems to be bright in terms of employment opportunities, but their definitely will be more pressure on them with greater responsibility towards the organization and society at large.

 

By Rahul Choudhury

Media & Communications, Fiinovation

Fiinovation Reviews: Need of Stringent Policy on Rare Diseases

In the year 2013, a petition was filed in Delhi High Court by the seven-year old Mohammed Ahmed suffering from the rare disease “Gaucher”. It is a hereditary disorder which is caused by the absence of enzyme which breaks down fat and releases energy. The absence of this enzyme leads to fat building all over the body and patients suffer from bone pain and anemia. In some cases, it may also lead to death. Although, this disease can be treated through the replacement therapy of enzymes and the person can lead a normal life under all medications and precautions, however, it can never be completely cured. The cost of therapy is Rs. 6 lakh per dose and has to be administered every month till the patient is alive. Since, his father is a rickshaw-puller and earns daily wages for survival he knocked the door of High Court for help.

Gaucher is one of the 7,000 rare diseases that afflict less than 6% of the global population. Looking at the rare phenomenon of this disease, pharmaceutical companies don’t consider it as an economically viable drug and end up pricing them as high as possible to derive profits. Even these companies don’t invest much on the research of the Orphan Drugs making them almost inaccessible for the weak and marginalised sections of the society.

In order to encourage the pharmaceutical companies to stimulate research for the treatment of rare diseases, the Orphan Drugs Act was passed by the US government in 1983. The law offered different incentives like smaller clinical trials, higher rates of regulatory success, extended exclusivity and tax rebates. Laws on similar line have been replicated in other countries such as European Union, Japan and Australia making it economically viable and commercially attractive for investing in the Research and Development (R&D) of the rare diseases. However, these companies ignore the incentives offered by the government and sell the orphan drugs at inflated prices. Rituximab, an orphan oncology drug, is one such drug in this category which is also the second highest selling drug in the world. The patients of developed country have higher per capita income and also governed by good government health policies hence they can afford them whereas it is completely unaffordable for the patients of developing countries considering their economic status and flaws present in the healthcare policies.

The Delhi High Court gave full attention to the case of Mohammed Ahmed causing lot of stir and scrutiny in the existing healthcare policies governing the nation. Before giving his judgment, Justice Manmohan analysed many other cases which have proved that the right to health and access to healthcare is implicit in Articles 21, 38 and 46 of the Indian Constitution.

He concluded that “every person has a fundamental right to quality health care – that is affordable, accessible and compassionate.” While recognizing the fact that every citizen cannot expect to receive free medical treatment at the state expense he also held the government responsible for not devising favorable policies for ensuring that every citizen can afford the treatment of rare diseases.

The court suggested the government to increase investment in the healthcare sector and formulate best practices and polices related to the treatment of rare diseases. It also confirmed that the act of financial aid treatment of rare diseases will be qualified as a CSR activity. It also directed the state government to arrange treatment for Mohammed Ahmed free of cost at AIIMS whenever he requires it, as per his constitutional right.

Learning lessons from this case, Karnataka became the first state in India to release a Rare Diseases and Orphan Drugs Policy. It recommended to implement the preventive and carrier testing, which is a means of reducing morbidity and mortality. Considering the fact that around 80% of the rare diseases` have genetic connection, it also suggested to the pharmaceutical companies to use genetic testing for accelerating the identification of the critical genes involved in rare diseases.

The state also highlighted about the flaw present in the Insurance Laws of India due which often acts as huge disadvantage for the patients suffering from the rare disease in India. The private insurance companies of India consider the genetic disorders as pre-existing conditions, hence, on that basis doesn’t provide any insurance cover for the same. Since, most of the rare diseases are genetic in nature; hence patients don’t get any support from the existing insurance policy.

The state emphasised on the awareness programmes to combat delay in diagnosis and treatment. It also called for the enactment of an orphan drugs statute to allow for tax breaks, funding and exclusive marketing rights as incentives for orphan drug discovery.

The policy has requested the IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority) to re-consider this exclusion from the above mentioned laws and at least provide basic coverage of rare diseases at reasonable premiums.

Fiinovation recommends the other states of India to follow the footsteps of Karnataka to ensure every citizen of India has access to affordable healthcare facilities. The state-led PSUs and private companies can utilize their CSR funds to undertake healthcare initiatives involving rare diseases for extending support to the weak and marginalized sections of the society.

 

By Manisha Bhatia

Media & Communications, Fiinovation

 

MOBILE APP HELPING WOMEN IN SLUMS FOR SMOOTH PREGNANCY

As per the estimates by WHO (World Health Organisation), 5,29,000 maternal deaths occur in the world every year. Out of these around 1,36,000 or 25.7% of total deaths happen in India. Every five minutes, one Indian woman die during pregnancy and child birth.

In a statement released by WHO, it was stated that, “Two-thirds of maternal deaths occur after delivery and postpartum hemorrhage being the most commonly reported complication. The incidence of emergency postpartum hysterectomies is about 83/100,000 with a maternal mortality of 17.7 per cent and a perinatal mortality of 37.5 per cent”.

India carries the burden of around 17 per cent of the global maternal deaths and post-partum haemorrhage, accounting for as high as 37% of the maternal deaths. This situation will prove to be a major hindrance for India in achieving the goal of a healthy and developed nation.

Majority of women dying and facing complications during pregnancy and childbirth are from the lower income group and neither they are aware about reproductive health nor have the money to consult the doctors or afford appropriate healthcare facilities.

In order to improve the healthcare conditions of pregnant women for safe child birth, better health post delivery, the Maharashtra based NGO has started free mobile voice call service known as mMitra for giving free consultation to the women during their pregnancy. A voice message has been regularly sent to the enrolled women, reminding them continuously about the mandatory medicines, tests and scans required during their pregnancy.

Nearly 1.30 lakh women from the Nalasopara slum area of Maharashtra have enrolled for the service. Women have enrolled for this service and were guided through short voice messages like regular health checkups, ultrasounds, diet, etc. Many women have claimed multiple benefits from the service like better health, “uneventful” delivery which means without any complications such as diabetes, high blood pressure or bleeding during the childbirth. Inspired by the benefits, they are also encouraging the many other women in their area to register for the services.

The initiative is the brainchild of Dr. Aparna Hegde, alumna of a Sion Hospital in Mumbai. “The success of the initiative shows that there was a great need for an information medium. Women are now demanding iron and folic acid from hospitals, which was always available for free but they had no knowledge about it.

During a study conducted by the same NGO it found that there is a 36% increase in the knowledge of women listening to the voice messages consistently and 47% increase in women knowing about the three family planning methods. Looking at the success and popularity of the programme, the NGO is planning to extend services to other states of India like Delhi, Assam, UP, etc. to educate and help women during pregnancy and childbirth as well as maintain good maternal health post childbirth.

Fiinovation urges the leading hospitals and health consultancies to extend support for such initiatives through their CSR funds and technical expertise for creating a huge impact in the lives of millions of young women, focused on reducing maternal mortality rate and achieving universal access to the reproductive health care.

Manisha Bhatia

Fiinovation Reviews – How Monsoons Threatens Chikungunya and Dengue Outbreaks

Every year India suffers from outbreak of diseases during the monsoon season. The burden of diseases and outbreaks is quite high on the common citizens. The healthcare facilities are often unable to save several lives across the country. Unplanned development in urban and peri-urban areas generally leads to water logging which becomes the breeding grounds of deadly diseases.

Fiinovation reviews that looking at the flood situation and heavy rains, the central government has already issued alerts to endemic states which include Delhi and West Bengal. These states have high chance of increase in chikungunya and dengue cases over the next two months. The central government has urged the states to take preventive measures and stay prepared for any kind of outbreak.

Several diseases in the monsoon season have claimed many lives in the last few years. The national capital is facing the problem of dengue and chikungunya despite taking preventive actions. Fiinovation reviews that ministry officials suggests that preparations of outbreaks have started from January onwards this year. Yet, Delhi has already witnessed cases of chikungunya and dengue. As per the government, there is close watch on the medical facilities such as availability of kits, training of staff, bed strength, etc. to counter any kind of outbreaks.

Fiinovation reviews that the Health Minister JP Nadda had suggested that India needs to emphasize on the need of ‘symptomatic’ treatment. Apart from this, the municipal bodies across the country have been advised to maintain cleanliness and ensure there is no stagnation of water. Fiinovation urges the corporations, especially from the pharma industry to increase their efforts towards prevention and cure of diseases. The CSR contributions from such companies whose business goals are already aligned with the social objectives can become big game changers in health sector.

Although, there is a need for comprehensive efforts and all the industries should encourage prevention of diseases. Fiinovation analysed the official data and found that 41% of mosquito breeding takes place at the construction sites where water is generally stored in open drums and containers. It is understandable that in situations like this there needs to be active search of places which are breeding grounds of mosquitoes. In the last one year more than one lac cases of dengue had been recorded across the country.

Fiinovation believes that with the support of corporations the state governments will be able to control the disease before it turns out to be epidemic. Therefore, let us hope several companies contribute their CSR funds towards handling diseases and outbreaks.

By – Rahul Choudhury

Media & Communications

Fiinovation

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