Fiinovation Reviews India’s Migration and Malnutrition Problems

The rising disparity among the people of India is a stark reminder that growth after the liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation reforms of 1991 has not been inclusive. Although, the country developed significantly, yet the development ripples have not reached the remote villages. The initial plan of focusing on the service sector to reduce the dependency of the Indian GDP on the primary sector (Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Dairy, etc.) paid off well, but didn’t solve the problem of the rural population which is nearly 70 per cent of the total Indian population.

As the primary sector didn’t receive as much investments, there wasn’t much growth to improve the standard of living of the rural population. The problems associated with agriculture and allied sector ensured that millions had to migrate to the urban areas for employment opportunities. Migration is not a recent phenomenon, rather the pace of it has increased in recent times due to widespread distress in the rural areas. As per the Census 2011, there were about 45.36 crore migrants. In fact last year 2.06 crore people migrated looking for employment opportunities and education.

It is understandable that the impact of migration is one the entire family and it’s the children who suffer immensely. It has been observed that the rapid development which ensured India becomes the fastest growing major economy in the world is not helping to curb poverty and malnutrition. As per the global hunger index, India ranks abysmal 97 out of 118 countries which much worse that its neighbours Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar and China. Fiinovation reviews that about 38 per cent children living in India are stunted or too short for their age. There seems to be a link between growing urbanisation and increase in malnutrition as it has been observed that significant proportion of children living in urban areas are stunted.

Alarmingly, it is estimated that 90 crore people will be added as urban residents in just three countries (China, India and Nigeria) by 2050. It seems that there is a paradigm shift of the burden of malnutrition from rural areas to urban areas, especially due to persistent child undernutrition. Fiinovation reviews that the problem of malnutrition is evident amongst the 6.5 crore slum dwellers in the country. Hence, the reason behind urban poverty and malnutrition is definitely India’s incapability to develop the rural areas while promoting inclusive and sustainable growth.

The road ahead will not be easy as the government plans to double the farmers’ income by 2022. Currently, there is very less industrial development in the rural areas. Agriculture in India is a seasonal activity with majority of the regions being mono-cropic, especially due to lack of irrigation facilities and dependency on the monsoon. Therefore, it is important to create livelihood opportunities and promote healthy lifestyle amongst the rural population. If the migrant population start finding employment opportunities in their inhabited regions, it will reduce migration, poverty and malnutrition significantly.

Hence, Fiinovation urges the government to implement policies which promote growth of the rural economy. Efforts to increase the farmers’ income will definitely pay huge dividends for the country. The impact of this will also be visible on the global hunger index and help the country eliminate extreme poverty as per the Sustainable Development Goals. However, this massive task cannot be done only by the government and the role of the private sector will be significant in providing resources for the development of rural infrastructure. The businesses should also contribute towards betterment of the farming community and the people residing in the rural areas through their corporate social responsibility funds. Investments in the agriculture sector by the businesses supported by agriculture credit from the government will significantly boost the primary sector thereby reducing the burden of the rural households.

Let us hope that the next two decades India grows inclusively and sustainably becoming one of the largest economies of the world with a higher human development index ranking.

 

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

 

FIINOVATION OBSERVES – WORLD SOCIAL JUSTICE DAY

World Social Justice Day is observed annually on 20^th February for promoting efforts to tackle global issues such as poverty, unemployment, gender equality and exclusion to create an equitable society for all. It promotes social justice, solidarity, harmony & equality for marginalised communities, women and immigrants. The theme of World Justice Day in 2017 is “Preventing conflict and sustaining peace through decent work”. On this day many organisations including the United Nations and International Labour Organisation present plans and issue statements regarding the promotion of social justice. Additionally, campaign groups, trade unions and volunteers are also invited to mark their support on this day.

In 2007, the World Day of Social Justice was introduced in the UN agenda. It urged governments to focus on three important aspects;

a) reaffirmation of commitments made in Geneva Development Summit 1995,

b) recalling the commitment to promote national and global economic systems based on the principles of justice, equity, democracy participation, transparency, accountability and inclusion and

c) reaffirming the commitment made in the 2005 World Summit Outcome to full and productive employment and decent work for all, including for women and young people.

Keeping focus on these aspects will remove the barriers that people face because of their gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture or disability.

Equality is the basic fundamental right of every society and in order to achieve the same, governments have created a framework for action to promote social justice at national, regional and international levels. The governments accept the fact that holistic economic growth can be achieved only by promoting equitable distribution of income, resources and providing everyone an equal opportunity for growth and development irrespective of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, culture or disability. They promote the belief that only social justice can help in achieving the peaceful coexistence within and among the nations.

United Nations also promotes social justice as part of their global mission to achieve equality for all. The recent adoption of the Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization by the International Labour Organisation is one example of the UN system’s commitment to social justice. The Declaration focuses on guaranteeing fair outcomes for all through employment, social protection, social dialogue, fundamental principles and rights at work.

Fiinovation through its association with corporations for CSR and Sustainability initiatives, have always promoted social justice. It believes that there are serious challenges in front of us, including financial crises, insecurity, poverty, exclusion and inequality within and among societies and considerable bottlenecks to further social integration and full participation in the economy. The road ahead would be to incorporate social integration activities within the social development programmes to boost equitable growth in the country.

“With exclusion and inequality on the rise, we must step up efforts to ensure that all people, without discrimination, are able to access opportunities to improve their lives and those of others.” – Former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

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

Sustainable Development and Natural Resources – Fiinovation

Over the last three decades we have seen the world’s population rise up to 7 billion putting lot of pressure on the earth’s natural resources. Political stability and good international relations have lead to higher growth but at the cost of destruction of natural resources that are useful to man in technological, economical and social circumstances. There has been unplanned destruction to meet the consumption needs of billions of people. As the developing countries try to match up to the levels of developed economies it has become essential to look into conservation methods for long term economic benefits.

The thought of sustainable development came into the foray as development methods of the past generations came under severe scrutiny. Fiinovation understands that there is a conflict of thoughts where on one hand there is a view that fundamental change needs to take place and there should be shift from what should be extracted and what should not be extracted from nature based on materialistic demands. This will actually connect the humans to the ecosystem. On the other hand their is a moderate view that development in the present context means keeping a check on the destruction of environment due to human activities, so that the basis of modern development is not destroyed.

In recent times we have discussed this over and over again and came to the conclusion that the moderate view seems to be more appropriate method to go about. But that raises a question, Do the developing countries need to do more than what the developed countries did when they were developing?

The answer to that is yes the developing economies will be the next super power because of what decisions they take now. They should be cautious that in this development race there won’t be any shortcuts, and the one who’s development agenda is based on sustainable lines will rule the world in the coming years. In the future years, we will see the present day developed countries becoming more and more dependant on the developing countries as their natural resource reserves will all be consumed. The developing countries thus now have to become more strict about the environment strategies as well as international relations. Sustainable development will only happen with mutual cooperation of all the stakeholders. The behavioral patterns of consumption of non-renewable resources should be reconsidered as soon as possible. Fiinovation advises that sustainable development can only happen if all the nations together impose the policy of reasonable consumption of natural resources and the permanent regeneration of natural resource reserves.

Rahul Choudhury

Fiinovation

Do the developing countries need to do more than what the developed countries did when they were developing?