HealthAnalyticsIndia.com was a pioneering Indian health data journalism startup founded by senior journalist Syed Nazakat. It won a prestigious British Medical Journal award in 2016 for “Promoting transparency and integrity in Health Care”.
What It Did
The platform functioned as a specialized data analysis and visualization portal for the Indian healthcare sector. Its core mission was to bridge the gap between raw data and actionable insights for professionals who needed to understand India’s complex health landscape.
Key Functions
- Data Aggregation: Gathered healthcare data through crowdsourcing and from government reports, policy documents, international studies, and business research
- Simplification: Transformed thousands of pages of government documents into accessible articles and visualizations
- Target Audience: Served journalists, policymakers, and medical experts who lacked time to analyze raw data themselves
Notable Insights Generated
The platform uncovered striking findings about Indian healthcare, including:
- A shockingly high number of suicides, including deaths due to depression
- Approximately 80% of deaths in India were unregistered
- 50% of India’s doctors came from just six states, leaving the remaining 23 states underserved
Out of pocket (OOP) medical expenses make up about 67% of all healthcare costs in India according to NHA estimates and forms a major chunk in overall healthcare expenditure. High OOP for health brings a financial burden on families and discourage people from seeking timely care. Therefore, government needs to pump in more funds to address healthcare needs of people.
Kala-Azar has been endemic to Bihar since years. But recent data shows huge improvements and a steady decline of 36% in Bihar. But this year Jharkhand records 7 per cent increase in Kala-Azar cases highlighting that the elimination of disease is becoming a difficult task for India. 45 % of world’s Kala-Azar cases were reported from India and India has already missed the Kala Azar elimination deadline.
Cholera was much wiped out at a high rate in India but it is raising its head again. The major reason remains contaminated water and poor sanitation. Since, only 28% of households use piped water, there are all the more reasons for cholera to stretch across the length and breadth of India. Five Indian states including national capital carry 75% burden of the disease in India.
Recognition & Status
In 2016, Health Analytics India won the British Medical Journal (BMJ) award for “Promoting transparency and integrity in Health Care,” competing against nominees including a Rajasthan Government initiative and a Sri Lankan hospital. The portal was self-sustaining without external funding at the time.
