ACT & GH Labs Collaborate to Boost Digital Health Innovation in India

This collaboration aims to tackle barriers to quality and affordable healthcare in India's underserved areas by advancing cutting-edge healthcare technology in primary settings.

ACT, an Indian venture philanthropy organisation, and Global Health Labs, Inc. (GH Labs), an international non-profit funded by Gates Ventures, has entered a strategic partnership. The partnership aimed at addressing the challenges of inadequate healthcare infrastructure and a shortage of medical professionals in low-resourced areas of India.

The collaboration focuses on identifying and supporting Indian innovators in the digital and medical technology space, with the goal of enhancing access to quality and affordable healthcare for underserved populations within India's public healthcare system.

Commenting on the same, Krisha Mathur, director of ACT For Health, said, "Our collaboration with GH Labs will focus on bringing innovative health-tech solutions to the last mile, where they have the highest potential for impacting the underserved. The goal is to make a meaningful impact on the public healthcare system in a way that bridges the accessibility to affordability gap on quality healthcare for Bharat."

The primary barriers to quality and affordable healthcare in India's low-resourced areas include inadequate infrastructure and a shortage of healthcare professionals. This collaboration seeks to overcome these challenges by enabling the development and scaling of cutting-edge healthcare technology, particularly in primary healthcare settings.

ACT For Health and GH Labs plan to pool their collective expertise and resources to provide technology assistance, conduct evaluations in public health settings, and explore pathways for scaling Indian health-tech innovations. The ultimate objective is to make a meaningful impact in communities where access to quality healthcare remains a critical challenge.

Sharon Bergquist, VP-Special Projects at GH Labs, said, "Global Health Labs is thrilled to collaborate with ACT For Health, bringing together our unique expertise and shared commitment to supporting innovation that can lead to improved primary health care and reduced disparities in health outcomes."

By leveraging their combined strengths, ACT and GH Labs aim to contribute to the advancement of digital health innovation in India, ultimately leading to improved healthcare outcomes and reduced disparities in underserved communities.

The collaborative effort reflects a commitment to bridging the gap between technology and healthcare accessibility, particularly in regions facing significant healthcare challenges.

Born in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 crisis, ACT is a non-profit venture philanthropy platform that offers seed capital and expert advisory support to expedite technology-driven innovations with a focus on social impact.

Established in 2020 and located in Seattle, GH Labs is a non-profit organisation. It specialises in developing tools and technologies to meet the unaddressed needs of primary healthcare centres and improve last-mile service delivery.