Issue #73 – Women’s Day Special 🎉

This Women’s Day, we’re hyped about some major news! The government’s initiative to ensure insurance coverage for all of India by 2047 is about to change the game for women’s health.  

Here’s how: 

• Maternity Coverage: Reduced mortality rates, aiding childbirth access.
• Reproductive Health: Empowering decisions, improving mortality and sex ratio.
• Breast Cancer: Early detection and management with tailored plans.
• Gender-Specific Illnesses: Timely diagnosis and treatment.
• Health Check-ups: Preventive care and wellness programs.
• Critical Illness Coverage: Access to advanced treatments for serious health challenges. Let’s celebrate women’s health empowerment! 

Big shoutout to Apple for hosting us at the ‘Force Together’ Women’s Day event! 🙌 Thanks for teaming up with FemTech India to invite and support our ecosystem founders in FemTech & women’s health technology. I shared insights in a panel discussion, uniting incredible women from diverse domains. It’s always inspiring to connect with our ecosystem founders, discussing challenges, and celebrating our victories, big and small. 

Another incredible win! 🚀

we’re finally talking about women’s health on a big scale in India! Exciting times ahead as we shine a spotlight on femtech and keep that momentum going. 

The event agenda focused on SheSparks 2024: introducing new women role models, spotlighting thought leaders driving equitable change, drafting policy recommendations for the government, bringing actionable learnings from women changemakers, and investing in innovative women-led businesses to kickstart a movement of change.

Happy Women’s Day to all the amazing queens out there! ✨Big love to all of you who hustle hard and lead the charge for women’s health. Thanks for supporting our mission! 

Let’s spark that change! 🔥 

Your Friend, 

Navneet

This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to stay on track with their fitness goals, struggling with consistency, or interested in understanding the intersection of strength training and women’s health. Listen audio on Spotify & Apple podcast.

• Uber Diagnostics Pvt Ltd, which runs AI-backed healthcare screening provider Cardiotrack, has raised $2 Mn (INR 16.5 Cr) in a pre-Series A funding round.
• Dr Agarwal’s Group of Eye Hospitals plans to invest about ₹100 crore in the country over the next two years to add at least half a dozen hospitals, specially in Kerala.

• C₂N Diagnostics, a St. Louis, MO-based brain health diagnostics company, received up to USD15M in investment from Eisai.
• Rakuten Medical, a San Diego, CA-based biotechnology company developing and commercializing precision, cell targeting therapies based on its proprietary Alluminox™ platform, raised $119M in Series E funding.
• Sionna Therapeutics, a Boston, MA-based clinical-stage life sciences company, raised $182M in Series C funding.
• Phagenesis, a Manchester, UK-based company which has developed a neurostimulation system to treat swallowing dysfunction, has closed a $42M Series D financing.
  

Did you Know?

In April 2023, the Supreme Court advocated for a ‘uniform national policy’ to ensure the availability of free sanitary pads for all girls in classes 6 to 12, along with the provision of separate toilets for females in all schools.

• The Lancet 2024 Series, consisting of four research papers, highlights how some groups, such as those who experience early or cancer treatment-induced menopause often do not receive optimal care.
• A recent study conducted in Canada has unveiled compelling evidence linking obesity to an increased risk of stillbirth, particularly as pregnancy progresses to term. 
• Obesity among children in India has spiked sharply with about 12.5 million of those between the ages of five and 19 overweight in 2022 compared to 0.4 million in 1990, according to a global analysis published in The Lancet journal.
• Recent data points indicate anaemia affects 69% of women due to iron deficiency. Around 57% of female patients tested had higher body fat. Issues like PCOS, endometriosis, and infertility are prevalent. Child mortality issues are significant, especially in rural areas. Around 23% of women suffer from cardiovascular diseases and elevated risk of diabetes has been observed in women above 55 years. Around 67% of female patients above 60 suffer from high blood pressure.
• Women in the UK are waiting nearly nine years for an endometriosis diagnosis, a new study has found.The study by the charity Endometriosis UK revealed that getting a diagnosis for endometriosis in the UK now takes almost a year longer than before the pandemic.
• Bifidobacterium breve, or B breve for short, is a bacterial species that’s found in the human intestine. It’s especially relevant in early life, being one of the most abundant bacteria in the newborn gut.
• More than 70% of American Indian young adults aged 20-39 and 50% of American Indian teens have cholesterol levels or elevated fat in the blood that put them at risk for cardiovascular disease, suggests a study supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
• Scientists have used artificial intelligence (AI) to reveal a new form of aggressive prostate cancer which they said could help thousands of lives by revolutionising how the disease is diagnosed and treated in the future.
• Cadila Pharmaceuticals  launched the Cadiflu Tetra Vaccine, an advanced Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine, to prevent influenza, a recurrent, widespread and debilitating viral infection.  
• A recent study published in the journal JAMA Network Open has revealed a concerning link between short sleep duration and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
• Scientists have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model, which has the remarkable ability to accurately identify tumors and diseases in medical images. This innovative model provides a unique level of transparency by explaining each diagnosis with a visual map, allowing doctors to easily follow its line of reasoning, double-check for accuracy, and explain the results to patients.
• A new study from the University of South Australia has revealed a direct correlation between the quality of one’s sleep and the structure of their daily activities, with exercise emerging as a key factor.

• The US digital mental health platform Anise Health has expanded access to “culturally-responsive” care in three new markets. Anise will be expanding its individual and group mental health services to three new states, Massachusetts, Florida and Washington, in addition to its current operations in California and New York.
• eHealth Technologies is integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI), to provide treatment for patients by further streamlining the collection, organization, and delivery of comprehensive medical histories to clinicians.
• Verismo Therapeutics, a clinical-stage CAR-T company developing the novel KIR-CAR platform technology, today announced that it has activated a second clinical site for its STAR-101 Phase 1 clinical trial at The University of Texas.

• PeeSafe released yet another edition of its podcast – Pee Room Conversation covering aspects of fun, circulating womanhood, intimacy, dating, and more.
• Hempstreet published a thoughtware on Trilokya Vijaya Vati and its uses.
• Newmi Care, in association with Prudent Insurance Brokers Pvt Ltd is conducting a panel discussion on “Holistic Wellbeing of Women at Work” on March 08, 2024.
• The Momly hosted an Ask Me Anything workshop on balancing between career aspirations and the journey of motherhood.

• The government has recognised and approved the critical industry demand for some changes in the Pharmaceutical Technology Upgradation Assistance Scheme (PTUAS) for better support for upgradation of quality standards
• The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has spearheaded a series of ground-breaking initiatives aimed at tackling infectious diseases and bolstering diagnostic capabilities nationwide, according to its Annual Report 2023..

• 5 Exercises We Hate, and Why You Should Do Them Anyway – Loathe burpees? Fear planks? Trainers share tips to make dreaded moves work for you.
• Does Beer Before Liquor Actually Make You Sicker? We asked alcohol researchers to explain what will — and won’t — prevent a hangover.
• Does Eating Yogurt Reduce Your Diabetes Risk? The F.D.A. will now allow yogurt makers to claim it can — but the evidence is mixed.

• A recent study involving 430,000 adults in the U.S. has revealed a concerning association between cannabis use and a higher risk of heart attack and stroke. 
• The American Physical Therapy Association uses the term Container Baby Syndrome to describe issues seen in infants who spend too much time in devices (or ‘containers’) that inhibit movement.
• Israeli researchers have achieved a major breakthrough by uncovering a vital link between Parkinson’s disease and the extracellular matrix (ECM) that surrounds the brain. 

See you next Friday, friends 👋

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