Women ’ s Health
Medical technology for women and expecting mothers still lagging behind
Called femtech , such technology can allow pregnant women to avoid hospital visits
Quoting the adage , “ there ’ s 150 ways to die and there ’ s only one way to be born ”
An area of medical technology that ’ s long lagged behind is the so-called “ femtech ”, or devices , platforms , and apps aimed at solving healthcare problems for women , including expecting mothers .
That ’ s according to experts in the field , who believe that femtech is poorly funded compared to other areas of new development and tends not to put women at the centre of its innovations .
According to Amrish Nair , founder of Biorithm , a medical technology start-up spun off from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore that has developed an obstetric remote monitoring solution , one of the main barriers to more comprehensive femtech solutions is a lack of interest among investors who see the field as being too niche .
HiDoc telemedicine app
Quoting the adage , “ there ’ s 150 ways to die and there ’ s only one way to be born ”, the electronic engineering graduate said it ’ s only right for apps like his to be properly funded , but this requires investors to better understand their purpose .
Speaking at Medical Festival Asia , an online event co-conceptualised by Global Health Asia-Pacific and Messe Düsseldorf Asia that took place last December , he said : �Whenever we go out and hear we are a niche company , I think : if pregnancy is not niche , as leads to something that everyone on earth has gone through — being born — I don ’ t know what else is niche .”
“ When the people funding technology understand that femtech is not a niche , we will get the proper funding allocated that is commensurate with the issues we ’ re trying to solve . But this needs to happen faster ,” he added .
Dr Christina Low , founder of the HiDoc telemedicine app and online community for women who want to manage their health , said that despite funding difficulties , the development of technology for women was gathering interest .
“ Femtech will continue to grow , and certainly this area has been fuelled by some very steady founders , even after we hear 100 times that the problems we ’ re trying to solve are way too niche ,” she told the online event .
“ If you look at it , it ’ s expanded beyond healthcare and entered into other domains that have benefited the lives of many women in their communities . We ’ re not just dealing with pregnancy , but there are multiple layers that we ’ re addressing ,” she said .
Dr Low , who is also managing director of the Singapore Medical Group , a network of private specialist providers and diagnostic imaging and health screening services , founded HiDoc after recognising that women ’ s priorities tended to be for everyone else but themselves .
“ In particular , our wellbeing was being sidelined . We don ’ t want just to manage our health when we ’ re sick , but to really understand wellbeing ,” she said . “ Integrating many dimensions , including the physical ,
56 AUGUST 2021 GlobalHealthAsiaPacific . com