The programme drives Digital India by ensuring the use of information technology to drive down the costs and expand last mile access to quality healthcare
Medtronic aims to provide quality ear care to 10 million people from the underserved community of India by 2025 through its ear care programme called Shruti. According to the Indian Journal of Otology, almost 80 per cent of hearing loss is preventable, yet many individuals don’t have the awareness, or access to quality, affordable ear care.
In December 2017, a case study on the patient impact of the Shruti programme was published by Business Call to Action (BCtA) – a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) initiative. Recently, BCtA studied the impact of the Shruti program on a sample of over 400 patients to measure people’s awareness of hearing impairments and ear care; the prevalence and age distribution of disease; patients’ income levels; post-treatment rehabilitation and satisfaction levels. Medtronic plans to use this impact data on Shruti to assess and improve screening and treatment protocols, measure improvements in the lives of patients and forge better partnerships with health service providers.
“Shruti is a health system innovation from Medtronic and aligns with the government’s vision of ‘Make in India’, as the ear screening kit is made completely in India, being designed and manufactured in Bengaluru and Chennai, respectively,” said Madan Krishnan, MD, India Medtronic “The Shruti programme drives ‘Digital India,’ by ensuring the use of information technology to drive down the costs and expand last mile access to quality healthcare. Lastly, the Shruti programme also supports ‘Skill India’ through our training programmes for community health workers, which has resulted in upskilling and creation of jobs.”