Mobile healthcare at a dollar a day

If you think Western countries have a bit of a healthcare problem - rising demand, aging citizenry and increasing costs - spare a thought for India and its 1.3 billion population. According to Dr Bakshi, who runs the third biggest hospital chain in India, a huge proportion of Indians today have no access to any healthcare... at all. However what it does have - despite endemic poverty - is 900 million cell phones, many of them smart, along with the lowest phone costs in the world. “The Indian consumer, even though poor, is willing to pay if his life is made better. This is the learning of the last 10 to 15 'cellular' years,” says Ajay. So his plan is to ‘leapfrog’ the hospital-building and doctor-training phase of health development and work instead towards “dollar a day” mobile healthcare using phones and commuication. Ajay explains how the plan is progressing.

FILMED AT: Internet of Healthcare, 21-22 September, 2016, London