Health ATM developed by HAL, examines COVID19 symptoms in 5 minutes

‘Prevention is better than cure', justifying the statement Pimpri based, Hindustan Antibiotics Limited (HAL) came up with a digital COC HEALTH ATM that focuses on preventive health care and examine symptoms of COVID-19, without the help of doctors.

As there is a rapid rise in the COVID cases, getting terrified with the rise of small symptoms of cold or fever is obvious. In that case, one doesn’t even prefer visiting the hospital as it may increase the chances of getting contaminated. For that circumstance, the Health ATM is going to assist the common people in large-scale, where they can get the basic examining done within 5 minutes.

Speaking to The Machine Maker, Nirja Saraf, Managing Director of HAL said, “Our device was conceptualized to conduct Rapid test for COVID-19, however, ICMR has currently put Rapid test on hold. In fact, we received requests from our associates not to include COVID test. Even if our Pods are equipped to test Corona patients, a large number of people will avoid using our Health ATM because of fear, and this will, in turn, defeat the whole purpose of our initiative, hence we majorly focussed on the symptoms of COVID-19”.

Health ATM by Hindustan Antibiotics Limited

As, COVID is one of the variants of flu, the main indicators of being positive are the symptoms. Therefore, the COC Health ATM focuses on preventive healthcare and examines symptoms of COVID-19. Nirja explains that once a patient steps onto the kiosk, it measures 23 parameters within 5 minutes. It provides instant health report and has a low running cost.

The major feature that differentiates the Health ATM is that it can spread awareness and caution to people beforehand so that they can take preventive measures accordingly. Another significant factor of the device is that it can collect a huge amount of health record data of all the patients being tested, which can be further analysed through Data Analytics by Govt. officials into important information basis, which the government and other health bodies can take crucial decisions for the betterment of society. It basically stores health records on the cloud.

ATM gives the holistic health profile by measuring 23 parameters which include vital test such as, blood pressure, low haemoglobin, glucose, body temperature, pulse, SPO2, oxygen saturation etc

It also helps in maintaining a healthy lifestyle by giving an overview of BMI, BMR, body water, bone/muscle mass, metabolic age, protein etc. Adding to it, Saraf stated, “this comes under standard variant and we will also be launching our advanced variant soon, which will have features such as ECG, telemedicine, Rapid test (malaria, dengue, typhoid) etc, which will be an all in one solution and revolutionise the preventive healthcare sector for healthier living”.

Saraf even informed that the government and local bodies are very receptive to this idea and understand the value proposition of the project. They even supported the development during the time of ongoing pandemic which can help strengthen preventive healthcare infrastructure.

Restructuring of Preventice Healthcare Sector: Need for Health Awareness

Understanding the way, the number of health issues is rising, Ms Saraf mentioned that HAL was looking at restructuring the preventive healthcare sector and spread awareness about the health condition of people which will help them to reduce their ignorance towards health.

She added, in respect to that a year ago they thought of introducing a product to be prepared beforehand for any unforeseen situation. However, it led to a mere coincidence that as the outbreak of Corona happened, HAL took pride in its research. And to co-operate with the country, they immediately started working pro-actively and made the ATM available for public use. The device came up as a blessing in disguise during the pandemic.

The main objective behind developing the device was that it gives an all-round synopsis of the health and body condition by measuring primary parameters in no time.

In India, more and more people each year are diagnosed with health diseases such as diabetes, anaemia, high/low blood pressure, malnutrition and many more. Awareness is low especially in rural areas hence, these health problems can be diagnosed at an early stage, it can be prevented and its severity can be reduced very significantly", says Nirja Saraf, Managing Director, Hindustan Antibiotics Limited.

Hurdles Upfront & Revival of Hindustan Antibiotics Limited

Every success story has to go through some struggle; likewise, HAL even faced many challenges while working on the development. Ms Saraf mentioned that identifying the problem statement was the major one. She added that they went on the ground and did intensive primary research to understand the health-related issues faced by people.

Post that, the identification of the right set of genuine and authentic devices and integrating the hardware and entire software was another hurdle, which took a lot of time to be achieved. After the development of the concept, they did a pilot test to check the accuracy and once successful, they tested over 10,000+ people.

Few other challenges include the issue of internet and electricity in rural areas, for which they developed the device in a way where it can run in the absence of such factors. As India is a multi-lingual country, providing vernacular languages option was a great deal which almost took a year to be installed. However, overcoming every barrier, today they are here, launching it successfully.

Currently, the device comes at a cost of Rs 3 lakhs/unit which is very nominal as compared to all tests conducted at pathology labs. Moreover, the device saves the entire hassle of going to a doctor first when people can become aware of their health condition within no time

However, the demand for the product is already very high with its launch and the upcoming batch of machines will be installed at all the public places starting with the Police Commissioner Office, Municipal Corporation Office etc. Even HAL received requirements in huge numbers from the PCMC office and it also targets to seek an opportunity to set up the kiosks in fever clinics. “The PCMC will be conducting camps where a large number of people in slums and other backward areas will be tested and a massive amount of data will be collected for further action. This will ensure the well-being of all by spreading more awareness and giving a reality check”, says Saraf.

Keeping aside the Health ATM, HAL is even offering PPE kits, alcoholic hand sanitisers/ disinfectants, masks, infrared thermometers etc and is participating actively in the battle against coronavirus. “Presently, we are contributing as much as we can, to assist the country. We are even trying to reduce the dependency on China for APIs and have proposed to the government for the manufacture of about 50% of bulk drugs at HAL which is under active consideration by the government”, says Nirja Saraf.

Reaching the end of the discussion, she advised everyone to must keep their hands clean and sanitize, wear masks whenever going outside or meeting others and keep a check on health conditions. Nirja Saraf said “by following the directions given by the government authorities we all together can contribute towards the safety and help fight Corona. 

Hindustan Antibiotics Limited, based in Pimpri is the first public sector drug manufacturing company set up by the Government of India. It is well known for developing novel and one of its kind drugs since its inception. However, the company was going through a difficult phase for the past few years, which eventually with time it overcame and is all set for revival now.

For more details visit, http://www.hindantibiotics.in/