Philips ups the ante in mother, child care solutions‬

Philips India, which has been synonymous with lighting segment, has been aggresively building its healthcare portfolio over the past few years. Building on this platform and in a clear move to take on GE Healthcare in India, Philips is expanding its presence to address the key concern of infant mortality and mother care.

 

“India loses over three lakh babies every year. Many of the deaths are premature and low-birth infants exposed to hypothermia wherein a infant's body temperature drops below normal required for metabolism and body function," Philips India chief executive Wido Menhardt said. As other causes of child deaths are neonatal jaundice and respiratory distress, Philips has lined up  products  intended to reduce infant mortality, which is the need of the hour in India, he added.‬

 

 

Branded Philips Efficia, it consists of baby warmers and incubators and a  respiratory device – NeoPAP (neonatal continuous positive airway pressure) delivery system which is the a non-invasive solution for respiratory distress in the world.‬

 

In addition to this the company has launched a suite of mother and child care solutions developed in Bangalore at its Philips Innovation Centre (PIC). This suite of products focused across the continuum of care is “affordable” and caters to a diverse set of care areas.‬

 

Take for instance, BiliChek, a non-invasive bilirubinometer which uses transcutaneous sensors to test and manage jaundice in infants. Nearly half of the newborns are affected by neonatal jaundice in the first weeks of their life and they need to be pricked several times to get their bilirubin checked.‬

 

‪The “Kangaroo Care” concept in the Warmer, which allows mothers to hold the baby while phototherapy is on is something out of the box, for sure. 

 

The baby warmers, according to Menhardt are notorious for housing infections causing organisms. Hence, it must be easy to clean. So, “the baby warmers and incubators are easy to clean and there are no corners that are hard to reach,” 

 

‪The idea of Philips is to replicate the strategy that it had adopted in Cathlabs. Today the global major has the lowest as well as the highest priced Cathlabs in the world, according to market sources.‬

 

‪GE had made quite a splash a few years ago with its low-cost warmers in India. It may now have to sit up and take note Philips says it’ll price these products very competitively. “To the extent, even government primary health centres may  be be able to afford them,” said a doctor familiar with the development. But, the company refuses to divulge the prices of these products, excerpt that they are “competitively priced”.‬

 

‪The products will also help Philips use this as springboard to launch in products in Africa and other developing markets. But, the products are not just eliciting interest from the developing markets. “We are seeing interest  in them even from some of the developed markets,” said Menhardt adding that there is need for affordable care in West too and this strategy to develop products here could do a world of good for the company in developed markets too.‬