The initiative will be live at 8000 clinics across India and aims to reach 1 crore women in 9 languages
Bangalore, May 10, 2022: To raise awareness on important women’s health issues around Anaemia, Breastfeeding and Menstruation, pharma major Emcure Pharmaceuticals has launched the EmWocal initiative. It is an awareness campaign that has been launched in association with the Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists of India (FOGSI). Harnessing technologies like Augmented Reality (AR) and personal digital assistant, the initiative aims to reach 1 crore women across India. EmWocal campaign will be live in nine Indian languages (Hindi, English, Odia, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Bengali).
At the core of the EmWocal campaign will be smart kiosks displaying QR codes, and thoughtfully installed at the waiting areas of hospitals and clinics. This is to make sure that the long waiting time to see the doctors can be well utilised by visiting patients in educating themselves. Women scanning the QR code will be guided on to Augmented Reality (AR) videos, Frequently Asked Questions and chat with a personal digital assistant among others. Patients will also be asked to partake in the digital interaction related to their basic health and lifestyles. The nudges provided by the personal health assistant during the AR journey will help patients discuss their problems with doctors and in turn help doctors having better informed patients.
As per India’s fifth National Family Health Survey (2019-2021), the prevalence of anaemia in females aged 15-19 years is a whopping 59.1 per cent whereas that among pregnant women aged up to 49 years of age was 52.2%. Through digitally accessible information and informative videos, EmWocal campaign will raise awareness about anaemia and prompt women to take appropriate actions to deal with this. While the benefits of breastfeeding for the child are widely discussed, the EmWocal campaign will drive understanding on the significance and benefits for the mother’s health. EmWocal’s third awareness area is menstrual health. Menstruation is still considered a taboo in India with multiple misconceptions which need to be changed.
Pratin Vete, President – India Business, Emcure Pharmaceuticals said, “Issues related to women’s health are still widely associated with irrational taboos. This leads to lack of awareness, and in turn affects the health of most women. It gives us a great satisfaction to launch EmWocal, a long needed initiative to help women deal with their health issues through easily available and medically verified information. The best thing about this initiative is that it is personalized to the women accessing the information and guides them to discuss important issues with their doctors.”
Ms. Namita Thapar, Executive Director, Emcure Pharmaceuticals, whohas a strong commitment towards increasing awareness & education around women’s health has been actively steering Emcure’s efforts in this direction. Namita’s earlier initiative on women’s health ‘Uncondition Yourself With Namita’, a first of its kind talk show on YouTube garnered attention on the internet. On the show Thapar speaks to patients, experts and doctors sharing their experiences on issues related to women’s health.
Continuing the conversations on women’s health, Emcure also commissioned the Indian Women’s Health Report 2021 which highlighted that 84% working women have faced stereotypes/ judgements around periods including being asked not to go near sacred spaces. 67% of the women respondents had said that talking about health issues is still considered a taboo in the Indian society.
Saurabh Gambhir, Senior Director – Marketing & Portfolio Strategy, Emcure Pharmaceuticals said, “Since women feel uncomfortable while talking about their health issues, we decided to start the EmWocal movement to empower women with relevant information and encourage women to prioritize their own health. As a growing economy, it is imperative that women’s health issues are prioritised and conversations about it are mainstream.”
