India is the second-most-populated country in the world. Its rural and urban distribution of population is 68.84 per cent and 31.16 per cent, respectively, as per the Census Report 2011. Well, nothing much can be done about the growing population apart from educating people. But education, poverty and health in the rural areas need more focus. Swasthya Sanjivani—an innovative kit developed at Manav Rachna College of Engineering (MRCE)—aims to eliminate lack of healthcare facilities from this list. Swasthya Sanjivani is an affordable, approachable and automated on-the-spot blood and urine testing system with immediate confirmatory results for detection of diseases such as diabetes, anaemia, renal damage and jaundice.
Trigger for innovation
There is a team of five behind Swasthya Sanjivani—Manasvi Sihag, Hardik Garg, Nikhil Dalmia, Prashant Gupta and Pritam Singh.
Before delving into what Swasthya Sanjivani is all about, let us look at what inspired them to come up with this solution and what exactly they are trying to solve.
Moved by the fact that “One billion people lack access to basic healthcare,” the team decided to come up with a solution. They conducted a survey in 23 different villages, which revealed that these areas lacked adequate healthcare facilities, and people could not afford the current facilities because of lack of money.
The team says, “Even if these people get tested at small camps, they have to travel to distant locations to get further tests carried out, which puts a heavy burden on their restricted earnings. We read a quote: “Everyone wants to change the world. You can,” which inspired us to develop a solution to this problem and thus Swasthya Sanjivani was born.”
What is Swasthya Sanjivani?
Swasthya Sanjivani enables basic digital literates at isolated centres to perform tests prescribed by medical practitioners of repute at distant locations. These expert doctors, through video conferencing, would be present all the time, right from the time the patient enters the centre till he leaves it with all the answers concerning his health.
The system is basically a portable digital testing laboratory. It also consists of an electronic pill box, which is provided to the patients to remind them about their medicine and appointment schedule.
This project aims at addressing the lack of diagnostic facilities at a primary level, especially in rural areas. It could be termed as a cheaper, effective substitute for telemedicine. In telemedicine, the diagnosis can be performed from a remote location but it is an expensive process and demands an accurate setup. Swasthya Sanjivani is a simplified substitute as it requires just the kit, Internet connection, trained technicians, and a laptop or PC.
The direct beneficiaries of this system are patients of anaemia, diabetes, renal damage and jaundice, people living in unapproachable areas, people below poverty line, diagnostic centres and hospitals in heavily populated areas, and clinics into blood and urine testing.
