The Hindu : Business : U.S. fund invests in AyurVAID

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U.S. fund invests in AyurVAID

Special Correspondent

To open six more hospitals

Successfully employed medical services model
integrates classical Kerala Ayurveda medical practice

Kochi: AyurVAID Hospitals, promoted by Kochi-based Kerala First Health Services Pvt. Ltd, on Thursday announced equity investment of Rs. 4.50 crore by U.S. based Acumen Fund, a non-profit venture philanthropy fund that invests in social enterprises in South Asia and Africa.

The first 15-bed AyurVAID hospital in Kochi is now two years old and the second 60-bed one has been functioning at Aluva, near here, since April 2007. The full range of Ayurveda out-patient and in-patient medical services is available at both hospitals.

AyurVAID plans to leverage the Acumen investment to expand its footprint and pioneer the development of a low-cost health care delivery system that focusses on preventive and curative care as an alternative to the highly capital intensive and curative system now used to treat chronic ailments.

Acumen’s initial equity investment will enable AyurVAID to open six more hospitals across the country in the next 12 months. The hospital has set itself the goal of 60 per cent of its bed capacity for patients from the middle and lower socio-economic classes. “AyurVAID’s health care delivery model for chronic illnesses can be positioned across the value spectrum ranging from low income patients to high-end patients from India and abroad, permitting a viable and profitable business model,” said Rajiv Vasudevan, founder and Chief Executive Officer of AyurVAID.

In the last two years, AyurVAID has successfully employed a unique medical services model that appropriately integrates classical Kerala Ayurveda medical practice with contemporary medical science to deliver health care to patients suffering from chronic ailments, ranging from diabetes to arthritis.

In India, 12 million deaths a year are associated with chronic diseases. Low income families are heavily and disproportionately affected, owing to the lack of affordable options for frequent and consistent treatment and preventive care. A vicious cycle exists where treating chronic disease increasingly drains away resources, while also affecting the ability to earn a livelihood.

The Ayurveda system of traditional medicine is the first choice for a significant section of the country’s population for meeting health care needs. Ayurveda physicians undergo rigorous five-year education programmes that include detailed study of the classical Ayurveda medical science, as well as the essentials of modern medicine, surgery, and pharmacology. However, despite demand for their services the country’s large reserve of qualified and government accredited Ayurveda physicians goes underutilised, owing to the shortage of health infrastructure and the absence of an organised, professional support system. To help solve this problem, AyurVAID has adopted a rigorous, standardised and documentation-driven approach, coupled with aggressive scale-up plans.

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