'Rural Population More Diabetic Than Urban India'

With more than 20 years of entrepreneurial experience in the field of healthcare in India and the United Kingdom, Dr Sanjiv Agarwal noticed the gaps in diabetes management programs in India. This led him to establish Diabetacare, a 24x7 diabetes care service that utilizes mobile technology to manage and monitor diabetic patients’ health.

Agarwal, MBBS and MD from King George’s Medical College and the founder and CEO of Diabetacare, spoke to BW Businessworld about the current diabetes management system that is efficient and effective.

Tell us what Diabetacare is and the task you perform?
Diabetacare is a first 24/7 service dedicated to put people with diabetes in regular direct touch with physicians and specialists using mobile technology, enabling an organized diabetes management platform focused on prevention as well as treatment. We provide a comprehensive diabetes service platform to physician partners, enabling them to screen all diabetes-related complications, detect end organ damage along with continuous monitoring by virtue of ‘Smart connected’ devices.

Is India a diabetic nation?
Yes, we are a diabetic nation. India has been declared as the diabetes capital of the world having more number of diabetes patients in the world.

What is the size of your start-up and how many rounds of funding you went through?
The company’s strength is currently 250 employees spread across the nation, majorly in tier 1 and 2 cities. The company has undergone only one round of funding and has been backed by strategic investors from the United Kingdom.

What do you feel about the scenario of diabetes management in India?
Approximately 70 million Indians live with diabetes and half of them are ignorant of their condition. The number is expected to touch the figure of 100 million by 2030. Overall, diabetes occurrence is higher in rural India, as 68 per cent of the population lives in villages and suffers heavily either due to ignorance or lack of specialized medical care. The ongoing epidemic of diabetes, which currently affects 9 per cent of Indian adults, is mostly Type-2 Diabetes and largely reflects the success of society.

Data suggests that the average life span of a diabetic is 56 years, which is about 10 years less than that of a non-diabetic. This means that, in the next 10-20 years, longevity of the youth of our country could be seriously affected.

What has been the acceptance level about your technology among the public?
Acceptance has been great, if we talk about our Delhi centre, an approximate 2,100 patients have been registered with Diabetacare Delhi since its inception in May 2015.

What are the criteria of taking the doctors on board?
We take doctors on board by doing reference check and eligibility criteria are minimum MBBS and MD. There should be space to install the equipment and they should understand the importance of managing diabetes with technological support.

What are your plans for expanding the company?
As of October 2015, we have 84 partner physicians across India where Diabetacare services are available. This number will reach to 300 partner locations by March 2017 primarily in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.

We are now looking to expand our service offerings to different geographies across the globe. Our aim is to start delivering our service in Middle East and the United Kingdom in 2016.