Greater internet penetration, 5G, AI drive health tech in rural areas

In the last decade or so, technological innovations in healthcare (health tech) have made considerable progress in the country, impacting thousands of patients and allowing easier access to doctors, hospitals and medicines.

But they had largely been prevalent in major cities. Today, this access is steadily but surely making inroads into the villages and small towns of our country.

For example, tele-consultation services company Practo now has patients dialling in from smaller towns to access its network of more than 100,000 doctors. RED Health’s 400-strong ambulance fleet provides emergency transport services to patients in Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns. ImpactGuru, through crowd funding, provides financial assistance to underserved regions and communities. Artificial intelligence firm Qure.ai’s screening tool has been used by more than 1.2 million people in primary health centres in rural areas for the early diagnosis of tuberculosis.

If the above gives a quick overview of the growing access and affordability of healthcare through technology, consider two case studies in more detail.

Through a blended finance facility backed by USAID and implemented by IPE Global, Redwing Aerospace Labs has set up drone networks even in rural India that transport 150 medical products including vital drugs, vaccines, blood products and diagnostic tools. Interestingly, women are active delivery partners in this initiative. For example, the Bengaulru-based company has helped tribal communities in interior Arunachal Pradesh by delivering medicines through this Make-in-India venture.

Qure.ai has deployed qXR—an AI-powered chest X-ray screening tool to detect tuberculosis at Christian Medical Centre and Hospital (CMCH), Purnia, in interior Bihar to detect tuberculosis. In its early stages, over 2,500 X-rays have been seamlessly processed, pinpointing 299 TB-presumptive patients. Qure.ai’s qXR is helping address a skewed doctor-patient ratio. Purnia, one of the poorer regions in the country with malnutrition and poverty, Qure.ai’s efforts supplement that of the government’s Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP).

“I now have the opportunity to integrate cutting-edge digital and AI technology into the battle against TB. AI-powered tools for advanced diagnostic imaging and data analysis are revolutionising how we detect and treat TB,” said Dr Shibu Vijayan, the medical director at Qure.ai.

Greater internet penetration, inclusive roll-out of 5G, the foundation of the government’s Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), public-private partnerships and AI are all driving health tech in rural areas.

A Bain & Company (India) estimates the overall Indian healthcare market is at about $180 billion in FY 2023 and is projected to grow at approximately 12% CAGR to reach roughly $320 billion by FY 2028. Within this overall market, health tech accounts for about 15%, or $30 billion.

Future of health tech In rural India
The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) in the last two years has helped developed the backbone necessary to support the integrated digital health infrastructure of the country. It aims to bridge the existing gap among different stakeholders of ecosystem through digital highways. Through its plans for a United Health Interface (UHI), digital registries, and electronic health records, ABDM could touch more people in rural areas.

Like how Aadhar has impacted more than a billion people in interior India, ABDM and the private sector’s current efforts could also reach out to more than a billion population. But this would require reimagining care delivery approaches and formats. Although we have a long way to go in making health tech inclusive, we are in the right direction.

A recent Confederation of Indian Industry report titled, “Healthcare in India: Poised for A Leap,” very pertinently argues that India should chart its own path to advancement in healthcare, as in other sectors. This has to do with both the unique challenges facing Indian healthcare—from disease burden patterns to access challenges—and the digital-first approach it hopes to take to leapfrog to maturity. For example, the report says that AI-based solutions that may be infeasible elsewhere may be appropriate in solving India’s last-mile awareness and access problems given the size of the country and the maturity of its digital ecosystem including mobile penetration, cheap access to 5G connectivity, and adoption patterns of UPI and other platforms.

The future could also include greater public–private collaboration models that harness existing public healthcare infrastructure in rural and semi-urban areas, and growing use of remote-care and other digital health technologies.

Additionally, greater inroads into rural heartlands could be helped by policy progress in related areas of healthtech like medtech and biotech. The entire infrastructure could be pushed through initiatives outlined in the National Medical Device Policy, production-linked incentives (PLI), foreign direct investment (FDI), the creation of bulk drug parks, and the Policy on R&D and Innovation in Pharma-Medtech (PRIP).

India is now the most populous nation in the world with more than 1.4 billion people. As it moves to “Viksit Bharat”, deeper penetration of health tech could ensure that we are a healthy nation too. The CII report concludes that “this presents a once-in-a generation opportunity for health tech organisations”.

Sums up Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, “This is a moment in the country’s development trajectory that is seeing similar aspirational leaps in many sectors, from financial services to logistics. There is every reason to believe that a similar transformation in healthcare is within our reach, enabled by our talent, technology base and innovative spirit.” NDTV Profit