India’s Healthcare Spends Among The Lowest: Survey

While the Economic Survey of 2013 claims that India’s GDP has extended its spending on health by 13% the same survey also points out that it has the lowest health spending as a proportion of its GDP. In fact, though the number-crunchers say that we spend 4.1% of our GDP on health the fact is that 70% of it is from people’s own pockets or private spending meaning that the government spends barely 1% on health. Even the private plus government spending is abysmally low compared to other nations. Both Brazil and South Africa spend around 9% and only Indonesia spends lesser than India among the 11 countries surveyed.

Comparison with other countries

Healthcare economics across the world can be broadly divided into two categories – capitalistic (like the United States) or socialist (UK and rest of Europe). In the first category, most healthcare resources are owned by private entities and in the second the state owns the resources, taxes the citizens and provides them healthcare. There’s ample evidence to provide that the second system works better because even though the US spends more per cent GDP on healthcare than any other country, the facilities aren’t available to all, whereas UK’s National Health Service or France’s system which was deemed by WHO in 2000 to be best in the world. The success of the latter is based on the fact that most European countries have universal healthcare despite spending less than the USA (USA – 15.2%, France – 11.2%, UK – 8.4%).

In comparison, India’s healthcare system is far worse. The private sector spends in India is more than double that of the government spends (a trend unique to India) which suggests that it’s the absence of government healthcare which forces individuals to spend money out-of-pocket. This hurts people even more and it’s estimated that health spends forces 39 million people each year into poverty. The latest figures from the UN suggest that India still accounts for one of every three maternal death. Most of them are due to complications like severe bleeding after childbirth, infections, high BP during pregnancy and unsafe abortions. As per latest UN figures, India accounts for one-third of deaths of pregnant women, mainly due to complications such as severe bleeding after childbirth, infections, high blood pressure during pregnancy and unsafe abortion.

Slimmest Phone Gionee S5.5 Launched In India

Gionee launched the slimmest handset in India, Gionee S5.5. The smartphone is just 5.5mm thick and replaced Vivo X3 at 5.75mm thickness to be the slimmest beauty in town. Unveiled at MWC 2014 in Barcelona, Gionee Elife S5.5 was launched initially in China and then in India. The phone is an economically priced device and caters to the mid-range segment.

Clearly, with the focus on slimness, Gionee Elife S5.5 gives equal importance to beauty as brains. The phone is a sleek stunner in a metal casing with a glass body. The design is slightly different than the run-of-the mill blocks and even the bezels have a slightly designed finish to give the phone a completely unique look.

Running on Android Jelly Bean version 4.2, Gionee Elife S5.5 runs on the Android platform with the Gionee Amigo UI on top. While the OS is a slight disappointment, we guess Gionee will soon roll out an upgrade for the device with Jelly Bean 4.3 if not KitKat.

The display is definitely one of the best in its class with a 5-inch super-AMOLED LECD touch-screen . The full HD display boasts of 441ppi. Gionee has managed to balance power and looks with the Gionee Elife S5.5. Apart from the display, the 1.7GHz octa-core processor equally impresses. The RAM at 2GB is the same as most flagships in the market.

While the OS was a major let-down when it comes to Gionee Elife S5.5, another disappointment is the lack of a memory card slot. Most phone-makers are sticking to internal memory these days but it definitely restricts the user in terms of storage and expandable memory. Also, while flagships often come with multiple internal memory variants, Gionee Elife S5.5 comes in just one internal memory variant, the 16 GB one.

Akamai Gets Web Acceleration Services By Sify In India

Leading global provider of cloud services Akamai Technologies,  has announced a strategic partnership with Sify respected Indian leader in Managed Enterprise, Network, IT and Software services: This partnership will enable Sify Technologies to offer Akamai’s global expertise and solutions in Web acceleration and applications delivery to its Enterprise customers across India.

By mitigating the complexities of Internet, Enterprises will be able to enhance user experience for their global employee, customer and partner bases while providing a comprehensive and highly secure platform for their online applications.

“It is Akamai and Sify’s shared vision to give customers industry-leading solutions and expertise to accelerate their online delivery and quality of service.” said Sidharth Malik, Managing Director, Akamai Technologies. “We believe that this partnership will help Akamai reach out to a new set of customers through Sify and help expand our footprint across India.”

“This partnership allows Sify to extend multiple leverages to clients. In a sea of information online, it will enable precise, accelerated and optimized content delivery for our clients, both on the web and mobile platforms. For Sify, this translates into a vital service that we can extend to every Enterprise whose business model involves content and its delivery robustness,” said  Kamal Nath, CEO, Sify Technologies.

Air Purifiers Remove Contaminants From Homes

As part of Philips’ commitment to deliver meaningful innovation in personal health and well-being, Philips India introduced a new category in its Consumer Lifestyle portfolio – Air – with the launch of three variants of Air Purifiers designed to control indoor air quality. These products will help alleviate the impact of poor air quality on diseases such as allergies, skin diseases, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorders (COPD), Asthma and other respiratory disorders. 

At the launch, A. Krishna Kumar, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Philips India said, “The air we breathe is pivotal to our health and well-being, especially for children and people with respiratory disorders. At Philips, we want to give users the assurance that they are breathing cleaner air at home and in office.” 

WHO studies reveal a strong link between poor indoor air quality and Non Communicable diseases which causes upto 63% of global mortality. Small particles enter deep into human lungs and the ultrafine particles can enter the bloodstream sparking a whole range of diseases including asthma, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases (like COPD, Asthma, Bronchitis) and even lung cancer. 

According to other international studies, indoor air across the world is between 10-30 times more polluted than outdoor Air, and 80% of the world’s population breathes polluted air that exceeds the WHO prescribed level of Particulate Matter (PM). In India alone, the level of PM in indoor air is approximately three times higher than the WHO standard. In the national Capital of New Delhi, this level is upto ten times higher than the WHO standard. 

“We have no control over external air pollution, but we can definitely improve the air we breathe inside our homes and offices. While the air quality continues to deplete, Philips Air Purifiers will hopefully address the issue to some extent,” adds Jayati Singh, Business Head – Air, Philips India. 

The Philips Air Purifiers, with a unique VitaShield Technology, purify the air through a 4-stage filtration process removing 99.7% airborne particles. Philips VitaShield IPS also has a number of special new filters designed for specific environments like new homes.These filters are complemented with the Smart Sensor and light indicators that measure and show the air quality in a room. The Healthy Air Protect and Healthy Air Lock warn the user when the filter requires replacement. 

VitaShield IPS is certified allergy-friendly by the European Centre for Allergy Research Foundation (ECARF), a foundation committed to improving the quality of life for allergy sufferers by identifying products and services that are allergy friendly. 

Philips Displays Advanced Tech Innovations At Summit

Philips has showcased a range of innovations at the Philips Innovation Center (PIC) in Bangalore, specially developed for South Asia and other growth geographies. At an international media event, Philips underlined its commitment to developing and investing in innovations in the area of healthcare, energy-efficient LED lighting solutions, and locally relevant consumer appliances and services. 

“India and other growth geographies are increasingly important, not just as markets, but as centers of innovation excellence for Philips.” said Jim Andrew, Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer “We believe that to be meaningful, innovation must be locally relevant. That requires innovating close to and often directly alongside, our customers, wherever they are in the world. This is a fundamental part of our innovation strategy, and why we continue to invest in centers of innovation excellence that have impact locally and also expertise that we can leverage globally.” 

PIC is one of the 59 Philips R&D centers in the world, of which 13 are in Asia and 3 in Latin America. In 2013 Philips invested more than EUR 1.7 billion in research and development globally. 

The centre focuses on building complete products for India and growth geographies, in addition to developing solutions and products for global markets, across the three sectors Philips operates in, Healthcare, Lighting and Consumer Lifestyle. Products include, ultrasound devices, Mother and Child Care products like Warmers and Incubators, the Intellispace Consultative Critical Care Solution and a whole host of solutions for India. It also contributes to Global solutions in MR, CT and Component development for connected consumer devices, connected Lighting solutions and renewable energy. 

Products and solutions unveiled at the event include: 

Mobile Obstetrical Monitoring (MOM) is a prototype scalable telehealth solution for early high-risk pregnancy detection in regions where increasing maternal mortality is a concern. Using a mobile phone* application, midwives can easily collect data from physical examinations and tests at local nursing clinics or even at the soon-to-be-mother’s home. Obstetricians or gynecologists in a different location are enabled to determine if a pregnancy might be high- risk, anywhere and anytime. Based on initial testing in India, Philips Indonesia is currently running a one-year pilot project. 

IntelliSpace Consultative Critical Care (ICCC) is a telehealth solution for remote intensive care delivery (tele-ICU) in rural and urban areas of India, where specialist care is not always available. Designed by the PIC team in India and already used by a total of thirteen regional hospitals in the country, it enables patients who suffer from a serious injury or illness to be monitored and evaluated by an intensive care specialist from a central hospital command center through the latest audio-visual technology. 

Air Purifier: As part of Philips’ commitment to deliver meaningful innovation in personal health and well-being, Philips introduced in the India market a new category in its Consumer Lifestyle portfolio – Air Purification – with the launch of three variants of Air Purifiers designed to manage indoor air quality. These products can help to improve the lives of those suffering from allergies or respiratory problems – good indoor air quality can help prevent such issues from occurring or worsening. 

Solar Energy -The DC Grid: The Philips Solar DC grid is a new LED-based solution that realizes an efficient link between a renewable energy source and an efficient luminaire. The development of affordable, inexhaustible and clean solar energy technologies will have huge longer-term benefits, especially in growth geographies where there is an increasing gap between supply and demand. 

This has driven Government agencies to look out for sustainable sources of energy. The Philips Solar DC grid will lead to reduction in investment as LED luminaires will demand less energy from the source to produce the same amount of light and this reduced energy can be supplied from smaller photovoltaic (PV) panels due to the efficient DC grid infrastructure. 

Connected LED lighting powered over Ethernet- As the global leader in Lighting, Philips unveiled a breakthrough connected office lighting system that delivers extraordinary value to facility managers, office workers, and building owners. The groundbreaking system uses Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) to connect office lighting fixtures to a building’s IT network. The lighting system acts as an information pathway, enabling workers to control and access other building services via their smartphones, allowing them to enjoy greater visual comfort and productivity. 

Visiq Ultrasound Delivers Good Images For Expectant Mothers

Royal Philips has introduced Visiq into the India market during the Global Media Meet 2014 held at the Philips Innovation Centre in Bangalore. Visiq is the first Philips ultrasound system which combines various features such as high performance and simplicity into a compact single miniaturized solution. It allows clinicians to increase access to quality diagnostic scans for Ob/Gyn patients, especially in labor rooms and remote areas. 

This compact ultrasound device can be easily taken wherever care is needed. It wakes from sleep mode to scan-ready in seconds, and can scan continuously for 2.5 hours on a single battery charge. It delivers the same image quality of premium ultrasound system, allowing expectant parents to clearly see their unborn child’s fingers and toes on the tablet’s screen. 

Visiq’s touchscreen gesture controls are familiar to anyone who has used a smartphone or tablet, and allow users to capture images, take measurements and share data easily. In addition, Visiq offers many of the same automatic image optimization features found on Philips’ premium EPIQ systems, as well as built-in Wi-Fi for DICOM data transfer to hospital or cloud-based PACS. 

“Visiq marks a new vision for Philips, allowing clinicians to take ultrasound where it has never been possible before,” said A. Krishna Kumar, Vice Chairman & MD, Philips India. “From small clinics to community medicine programs, care workers now have access to ultrasound in the field to provide pre-natal scans to expectant mothers in remote areas who wouldn’t otherwise have access to this type of innovative technology – helping reduce maternal mortality.” 

“Having used many other ultrasound systems, I find Visiq so handy. I could carry it anywhere I need it: to the bedside, the labor room or even the operating theater. The way it works is also quite simple, and we could easily train people to use it. The other big advantage is the use of Doppler. We don’t have to send patients to the scan room and try to extract information afterwards; we can just use this simple machine and take immediate decisions. So the patient and the doctor will be happy because everything is happening fast,” said Dr. Shashikala Bhat, Ob/Gyn at the TMA Pai Hospital in Udupi, India. 

 At the heart of the Visiq system is a smart transducer that fits comfortably into the user’s hand. It comes with single probe solution, high quality 2D B&W pulse Doppler and 2 of 2  color Doppler. Drawing on over 30 years’ experience in ultrasound, Philips has taken advantage of advances in miniaturization to integrate a sophisticated broadband digital beam former and powerful image acquisition module into the transducer. Visiq targets OB/GYN and abdominal applications. In addition to its utility in labor and delivery room it has potential application in other areas like point-of-care and critical situations like calamities and accidents. It lays the foundation for a future range of portable ultrasound products to meet the evolving needs of clinicians and patients. 

Firm Expands Big Data Search with Elasticsearch

MapR Technologies, Inc.,the top-ranked distribution for Apache Hadoop, and Elasticsearch Inc., the popular open source search and analytics solution, today announced the integration of Elasticsearch’s real-time search and analytics capability with the MapR Distribution for Apache Hadoop, enabling customers to search and store tremendous amounts of information in real time.

With the growing need for businesses to store, search and analyze huge volumes of unstructured data from multiple sources, big data technologies such as Hadoop are necessary for businesses to extract critical insights.The MapR Distribution helps customers realize the benefits of Hadoop at a lower cost of ownership than other distributions while enabling the widest number of use cases. 

With the combination of MapR and Elasticsearch, developers gain a scalable, distributed architecture to quickly perform search and discovery across tremendous amounts of information. The combined solution is already in use at leading enterprise companies including Solutionary, the leading pure-play managed security service provider, and several Fortune 100 financial services institutions.