By Ganesh Prasad

Covid-19 has changed the way people in India respond to diseases. Today, even people who live in small towns know that if they have a fever or cold, they should go and see a doctor to improve their chances of survival.

This was not the case, pre-covid. The general tendency then was to go for late stage treatments. Prior to the pandemic, most people did not even regard fever, cold or sore throat as ailments. Someone sitting next to you could sneeze without using a handkerchief and it hardly mattered. People went to see a doctor or visited a hospital only if the situation turned serious.

Then the pandemic happened. Two years later, people in small towns are now going to neighbourhood doctors with test reports in hand, without even asking. Earlier, even if a doctor had advised them to take a test, they would have argued or resisted.

Preventive or early healthcare was never a possibility in precovid times. So what accounts for this change in attitude? To my mind, there are three reasons for this shift: restrictions, awareness and technology.

Restrictions
Covid-19 limited people’s movement like anything. People living in small towns, even the financially well-off class, had no choice, but to seek help from a local doctor. So in the last two years, they have developed confidence in the capabilities of their local doctor, which they previously never showed. Healthcare has literally moved near a patient’s home. Now with lockdown restrictions gone, many of the established practices and arrangements are making sense too. For instance, why would anyone want to travel in Bengaluru traffic, for two hours, to reach a super speciality hospital two kilometres away, if they can avail the same facility in a neighbourhood clinic or a nursing home?

Awareness
During covid, laboratory testing became critical for all kinds of treatment for a patient. Blood test was like the horoscope of a patient. Now even local hospitals are setting up labs next to them, as they don’t want to wait and delay treatment.

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The writer is the founder, MD & CEO of Genworks