Empowering India’s emerging Middle to participate in their well-being journey

A few months back, I shared a post about the regrettable loss of three young people I knew. Unfortunately, these lost lives are not anecdotes. The Lancet has reported that the prevalence of diabetes and other metabolic non-communicable diseases in India is considerably higher than previously estimated. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) was responsible for 26.6% of all Indian deaths in 2017, increasing from 13.6% in 1990. There has been a more than two-fold increase in CVDs, from 25.7 million in 1990 to 54.5 million in 2016. Saathealth’s recent study with ~20,000 families across India (thanks to our partner SCBF) showed an increase in health and financial burden from rising NCDs in young families across India.

The World Heart Day falls on 29 September, an opportune time to reflect on what we must do to address the challenge of heart disease. This is not a problem that a group of experts sitting in some hospital or policy group can solve on their own – the issue is close enough for all for us to get personally involved in the health and well-being of our near and dear ones. We need more doctors and hospitals to address the problem - that is happening. We, as consumers, must also take on the responsibility of healthier lifestyles, to counter-balance the sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy food, unclean air and widespread stress we face in our daily lives.?

There is a third critical area that we need to focus on. Early diagnosis and identification of heart disease remains a high barrier pursuit for many of us. Think of a 35 year old executive in a stressed workplace or a 45 year old teacher juggling work and family. We all know people like this; we all might be like this ourselves! We do not have the time to care for our own well-being. How can we expect to find the time for early diagnosis, take a day off, go to a hospital, get some tests done, just to find out that nothing might be wrong with us. Or worse, find that something might be wrong and now we need to make more time to care for our own health needs. All of this takes time away from the more pressing responsibilities we need to attend to on a daily basis.?

It is with the aim of increasing early identification and treatments easily accessible, that a wide spectrum of digital health interventions are designed. The World Health Organization’s recent report highlights the importance of digital technologies to alleviate the burden of NCDs. Evidence based digital interventions like mobile applications, telehealth and telemedicine, connected and/or wearable devices can be used for disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management and for health promotion and lifestyle interventions. Digital health presents valuable opportunities to improve healthcare delivery and also to empower individuals to take control of their own health and well-being. Integrating these tools into our well-being journey can transform the landscape of preventive cardiovascular disease care.?

Our aim at Saathealth is to focus on helping alleviate the burden that NCDs are placing on families. Our work connects us with many partners that are addressing the need for young people to monitor their health through affordable and accessible solutions. One example is the Philips Heartprint solution, an early guidance tool designed to monitor heart health, assist in early detection of potential health changes, provide insightful guidance, and suggest appropriate intervention at the right time. This at-home screening tool gauges heart health while at rest, tracks patterns, and presents a heart safety score upon completion. Early data from thousands of Indians already indicates that an average 24% (22.8% and 39% of women and men over 35) were at undetected medium to high risk of heart disease. The solution has received the iF Design award in 2024 and received rave reviews from consumers ranging from 35-78 years old in our early evaluations. Our users particularly like the ease of use, the comprehensive evaluation report and the affordable pricing-all three factors critical for widespread consumer adoption.?

We love the idea of direct to consumer technologies that empower and enable users to meaningfully participate in their own well-being journey. However, we are also constantly on guard against the abuse potential of many new interventions. A recent Lancet editorial cautioned against the dangers of the direct to consumer testing industry, warning against the aggressive (sometimes irresponsible) advertising campaigns, undeclared conflicts of interest, the lack of high-quality clinical evidence and exaggerated claims. At Saathealth, we continue to be mindful that consumer testing should be equitable and grounded in evidence, and should not become an opportunity to “capitalise on the worried well”, which seems to have happened with many new interventions.?

The World Heart Day is a suitable reminder for all of us to be more vigilant and empowered in the pursuit of our own well-being journey. We should continue to explore the role of consumer based technologies that provide actionable and evidence based insights to our own well-being journey. For our team at Saathealth, these guardrails of affordability, accessibility and authenticity (evidence base), guides our partnership with solutions that empower the well-being journey of emerging middle Indians.

About Saathealth

Saathealth’s curated marketplace educates, raises awareness, and guides emerging middle India consumers to wellness products that serve their health and financial well-being. Please contact us to discuss how we can collaborate to increase access and product options to serve the health and financial resilience needs of India’s emerging middle population.