City goes crowd funding for health

Hyderabadis are increasingly opting for digital crowdfunding to meet medical and emergency needs.
City goes crowd funding for health

HYDERABAD : Hyderabadis are increasingly opting for digital crowdfunding to meet medical and emergency needs. Anoj Viswanathan, President and co-founder of Milaap said this at a press conference on Thursday. “The total number of fundraisers from Hyderabad has seen a 7.25 times increase on Milaap, between 2016 and 2018, while medical fundraisers alone have grown 14 times during the same period, clearly demonstrating the primacy of medical needs in online crowdfunding,” he added. 

Although medical fundraisers constitute about 55 per cent of the fundraisers set up from Hyderabad, they have raised more than 90 per cent of the total 36 crore rupees raised from the city. Hyderabad is one of the cities that attracts people from across the country for specialised healthcare needs and treatment, particularly for paediatric liver diseases.”

Ayushman was only six months old when he developed severe jaundice. His father Abhishek, who works at a private company in Hyderabad, consulted numerous doctors but Ayushman’s health was deteriorating. Several tests, including liver biopsy, indicated a diagnosis of biliary atresia, a liver condition where the bile ducts are blocked, ultimately leading to liver damage. A liver transplant was the only option, which was estimated to cost Rs 16 lakh.

It was impossible for the family to bear such a huge cost, suddenly. Ayushman’s father opted for online crowdfunding and within three months, he managed to raise the required amount with the help of over 1,100 generous people who contributed towards the transplant.Anoj points out that till date over 305 paediatric liver transplant cases have reached Milaap, with more than 100 in the past one year. Including adult cases, more than 500 liver transplant fundraising campaigns have been hosted on Milaap.

“Tertiary healthcare such as liver transplantation, cancer care or accident and trauma care can get too expensive for any average income family, and it is impossible to arrange the funds immediately. Crowdfunding is a good option to support healthcare expenses. Milaap has hosted an overwhelming majority of fundraisers for paediatric liver transplants. In fact, Milaap has helped, in some capacity, nearly 40 per cent of the total paediatric liver transplants that have been performed in the country over the past four years.

The success of campaigns from Hyderabad, according to Milaap, also indicates the effective use of social media, to reach out to more people, and therefore connect with more potential donors. Being a hub for people from across the country seeking quality healthcare, Hyderabad is quickly taking the trend of online fundraising to those who need it the most. Medical expenses are an unavoidable hurdle, and often lead to added distress. Traditionally, people try to gather as much as they can by reaching out to every source of funds they have access to.

The new online phenomena takes it a step further, making communication easy, while extending potential sources to the whole world. With geographical barriers rapidly fading away in the online world, today anyone with a smartphone can set up a fundraiser through instant messaging or render help with great ease. Advanced technological features allow users to start a fundraiser on Milaap without typing in more than eight Indian languages. A feature exclusive to the platform, it allows the story to be recorded like a voice note, and transcribes it in the language of speech, to create a fundraiser page, ready to be shared with friends. Those wishing to set up a fundraiser for a cause can look up their website for details.

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The New Indian Express
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