Social Issue

India has a massive problem of malnutrition. It is estimated that half of women of childbearing age are anaemic and 33% are malnourished. This leads to a vicious circle of malnutrition from mother to child. 48%, or 61 million children under the age of five in India are stunted (have low height for their age); 43% or 53 million are underweight.

In addition to this, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) contribute around 5.87 million deaths or 60% of all deaths in India. NCDs account for 40% of all hospitalizations and approximately 35% of all registered external visits. One of these NCDs, diabetes, is very present in India and totals more than 65 million sick people in 2016 against 26 million in 1990.

The early diagnosis of these diseases carries important benefits, increasing the welfare of the communities, and reducing health costs. Therefore, we think that the range of products offered by Biosense can tremendously support the individuals affected by these diseases and take care of them for their anticipation.

Our Response

We collaborate with Biosense Technologies, an Indian company that develops affordable, basic and connected diagnostics devices to prevent complications/mortality caused by non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and malnutrition in low-income communities. The small devices can easily be carried by nurses to remote rural areas and require minimal training for use. In addition, they are connected to the cloud, which allows doctors to collect and store information about patients and the communities in which they work.

Biosense has developed 6 devices for diagnosis, mainly dedicated to the detection of malnutrition, anaemia and diabetes. The two most important factors that Biosense focuses on during the product design process are its affordability and its usability in a low resource environment.

Expected Social Impact

Over the next 3 years, the use of Biosense’s products is expected to amount to over 66 million tests.

Using our methodology to calculate social impact, a $ 300,000 investment will facilitate over 1.8 million tests being performed over that period.