Healthcare and regular people always had a drift that seemed unbridgeable. While the relationship between the two was meant to be close due to its “trader and the trade” nature, the truth remains that healthcare is still unattainable and aspirational for a huge part of society. But it’s just in recent years that both healthcare and diseases have gone through their own transformative journeys. In terms of wellness issues, we are seeing a tremendous increase in lifestyle and body weight-related issues, especially in the post-COVID era. People were for the first time in a long time restricted to their homes, and ergonometric chairs were swapped with couches, catching that morning metro was swapped with a lazy stroll to the fridge, and our bodies told the stories of these transitions. We saw many harrowing health problems such as blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes, along with an increase in the risk of conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, depression, gastrointestinal problems, and asthma.
Mr. Amitoz Singh, Founder and CEO, Nirvasa
While diseases were more lifestyle-related, there was a need for a healthcare system that stepped up and became easy, discreet, and most importantly- digital! In a healthcare system that was more remedial in nature, we needed something which was preventative and opened communication lines for the problem that one hesitates to discuss with their family doctors face-to-face, mostly due to the social stigmatization attached to them. Whether it is health problems which were earlier thought to be aged peoples’ problems, such as early balding, continued tiredness, poor sexual health, increased risks of cardiovascular diseases, unintended weight loss or weight gain, blurred vision, memory loss, slow-healing sores, and frequent infections and injuries or it is the mental health issues, the traditional healthcare is not the most accessible, and people held space for something more aligned with the current times.
Digital Healthcare saw an opportunity there and took root, and instantly people embraced the change with an open and eager mind. The accelerated pace of digitization and rapid adoption of technology has done away with many limitations in recent times. Many digital healthcare companies are offering affordable and high-quality healthcare technologies that are up for grabs for anyone, which challenges the toxicity of healthcare gatekeeping and makes them available for everyone, irrespective of the location and budget of the patients.
Telehealth really had its glory moment in the dread and gloom of the pandemic and since then, it has only grown stronger and better equipped to take on health issues over a wide spectrum. Telehealth accounted for less than 5% of India’s overall healthcare technology segment before the pandemic and after the pandemic, it surged to 47%, as per data from Apollo Hospitals. These numbers tell a compelling tale of an opportunity that always existed but is only now explored.
Speaking of telehealth, Nirvasa is one such startup that is leading the digital healthcare delivery space in India. Founded by Amitoz Singh in 2019, this Gurugram-based startup is offering a safe space for today’s lifestyle-related problems to be talked about and treated appropriately. Nirvasa brings healthcare not just to the doorstep, but to the fingertips. It offers healthcare assistance to every Indian which can be easily accessible from the comfort of their own homes, without the hassles of waiting in long queues, traveling for hours in heavy traffic, or just being put in a position where they have to confront the social stigmas to address their niche problems. Nirvasa safeguards the discretion of the patients while also being economically more accessible for many, as it offers free of cost health consultations to 10000+ Indians per day. It fosters an ecosystem that is welcoming and a culture of inclusion and confidence. In the future, Nirvasa Healthcare is also planning to launch a Diabetes Healthcare Action Plan, which will operate through its digital healthcare platform. With a country as expansive as ours, health tech holds immense potential and bears nothing but good news. The company is also delving into mental health issues, destigmatizing it, by creating awareness and education.
