Dr. Sameer Khan of CallHealth
Cancer and depression are the two major health issues faced by women in Hyderabad. City doctors call for better health strategies and awareness to reduce the burden of cervical, breast cancers and depression in women. On the occasion of the International Women's Health Day on May 28, doctors caution that prolonged negligence may emerge as a major risk to woman's health. A little planning on health and simple preventive measures will go a long way in checking cancers and depression. They suggest that regular health checkup will stop many diseases. One should not wait for the symptoms and body signs for diagnosis of health issues. According to the Human Papillomavirus and Related Diseases Report, 2017, breast cancer makes up about one-fourth of all types of cancers in women. According to the report, one in every 28 women is prone to breast cancer during lifetime. Those above 50 are at a higher risk, though the risk begins to increase in women after early 30s. In cities like Hyderabad where pollution is a daily problem the risk of breast cancer is even higher - one in 22 women. Physician and lifestyle coach, Dr Ravi Modali, says that breast cancer is the most prevalent amongst women in the age group of 40-65. It is imperative for them to get regular check- ups, especially due to the hereditary character of the disease. "Cervical cancer, the third largest cause of cancer mortality in India, accounts for up to 10 per cent of deaths amongst all cancer cases. The sooner cancer is diagnosed, more are the chances of it getting cured. Dr Sameer Khan of CallHealth says cancers can be detected quite early using genome mapping that mines valuable patient information like family health history . "It is easier now to detect cancers at early stage. We have less invasive techniques to gauge the stage of the cancer and quickly take the next steps, like breast thermography. Physicians can suggest apt treatment met hods for individual pati ents," he added. In case of cervical cancer, the on set age
in women is 21 to 67 years. Health experts al so emphasise the need for speaking out and expressing the "bottled-up thoughts". One should not be hesitant to avail of medical treatment for health issues. Besides women, children and adolescents are vulnerable to mental disorders. Official data reveals that about eight percent of women and men are prone to one or other type of mental disorder.What is worrying is that those in the teens are more prone to mental health issues. The most common health issues are depressive episode and recurrent depressive disorder, agoraphobia, intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, phobic anxiety disorder, psychotic disorder and depression.
CallHealth in talks with insurers to help bring down claims ratio
CallHealth, an integrated healthcare services startup, is in talks with insurers to help them valueadd preventive care services to customers. The move aims to improve wellness, helping insurers significantly bring down claims ratio and eventually the cost of health insurance. CallHealth was founded by Sandhya Raju, daughter- inlaw of Ramalinga Raju, the founder of scam-hit Satyam Computers. The startup has mobilised Rs 200 crore from key industry captains. It has also finalised investment bankers to raise Rs 200 crore of private equity investments. "CallHealth is targeting to soon handle a million customers and is now in talks with some of India's large insurance players to help them offer value added services like preventive healthcare and wellness to their customers," Hari Thalapalli, CEO of CallHealth, told ET. "Couple of large private sector insurers were enthused by our proposed model of the value added services, apart from the entire gamut of healthcare services, which not only helps their customers improve their health but also potentially helps insurers to significantly bring down the claims ratio," he said. Thalapalli did not disclose the identity of the insurers, saying CallHealth has entered into confidentiality agreements with them and a joint announcement could be expected once a formal pact is signed. CallHealth offers doctor consultations, diagnostic services, homecare, physiotherapy and delivery of medicines. Its services also include medical appointments and surgeries on a priority basis. Users can access the services by phone, website and mobile app. The startup, which has touched nearly one-lakh households with 1.5 lakh customers in Hyderabad over the last year or so, is testing its platform across Delhi. "We are also looking at evolving from a B2C to B2B player and are in conversations with players in insurance and telecom space, among others, to come up with a B2B to B2C play, wherein in we work through them to be a layer of contact for their customers," said Thalapalli. G Srinivasan, chairman of New India Assurance Company, said the trend in health insurance is going to be building wellness into the health insurance space. "It will definitely help the insurers to bring down the claims ratio and ultimately it can bring down the cost of health insurance," he told ET. "It is still in early stages and you will see more and more such products coming from the insurance companies." In a bid to expand its portfolio of services, partners and customer base, CallHealth has hired Sreekanth Nadella, a chartered accountantturned-technology specialist, as chief operating officer and Madhu Gottumukkala, a former HTC, Samsung and Polycom executive, as CTO.