Serving The Nation Since Decades
The company Hamdard - a Unani pharmaceutical company in India has been instrumental in healing people in the nation since decades and their basic objective is to focus on concentrating on healthcare education of the people of India and the promotion and propagation of indigenous medicines system on modern and scientific lines.
An introduction to the vision of Hamdard
Abdul Majeed in conversation with Harbinder Narula, CEO BW Healthcare World & BW Wellbeing World gave immense insight into concepts of traditional medication and what is Hamdard’s mission for the next decade and how they are wanting to create a further impact on the health of the people of India in a positive sense. He said, “General wellbeing and improving the quality of lives of people is our perspective as of now and we conducted researches recently into how we can make a database of patients as well along with improvement in holistic wellbeing for the future. For the future we have come to the conclusion that though Unani is our base, we need to be the best in Ayurveda and Allopathy as well. My grandfather had a vision that he wanted to see a time where all the systems are working together without confliction in an integrated manner.”
He also shed light on the processes of curing people of various ailments. He wants all the strengths of Unani, Ayurveda and Allopathy working together. He believes if we do a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis on all, we will find that if one of the therapies has a weakness, it might be the strength of another therapy and vice versa. Holistically they are focusing on a patient-centric and outcome centric model and the approach will be broad and solution oriented.
Objectives in the existing system
“The motto of Hamdard has always been to provide the best quality of products at the least possible price. Profiteering is not the motive, “he stated. He went on to say that if for the poor or the masses an allopathic drug gets introduced and synthesised, that will be a major breakthrough at the holistic level. There are organisations that come to India with vaccines, for example at the price of $300, but they are re-synthesised here and made much cheaper.
Moving on he said that they are making plans towards enhancing quality even further and seeing how good their facilities will look like in the future and right now they are also trying to bring their facilities (Unani and Ayurveda) to the topmost level. The main objective before proceeding further in the existing system - according to him, should be that the existing system is bound by a process and taken to an upgraded standard. What they are trying to do in the next 2 to 3 years with their new business unit is that they are trying to fortify the existing system with processes systems.
Becoming process oriented as an organisation
He feels that the basic idea is to modernise and up the quality of existing products. Integration of all the therapies taking the best of each and creating something good for the people and useful with best quality at an affordable price. Research and development has also started with the latest equipment has also started. The resources and raw materials are going sky high. Hence, a process to tackle all the hurdles is being focused on as well.
Role of technology in Hamdard as a medicine company
Abdul Majeed also said that genomics has already been ingrained in their processes because the fundamental difference between all other therapies in Unani is that they are working on temperament. Technology is key, as the processes are smoother while using it and they have laboratories which use state of the art equipment.
Insurance as an incentive
The moment insurance comes in at a very large scale in India, we will be like the United States is what he believes. “Once covered with insurance, patients will experience a smoother way of procedures of diagnosis and treatment. Once this moves on everyone will have their financial interests in view,” he stated. Mentioning that there has to be a change in insurance, he also emphasised on how it will be beneficial. In the wellbeing market where prevention and immunization are the new buzzwords at present, the future has in store a lot of awareness which has already begun as for example, people are working to up their immunity levels. Basic things are already somehow in the minds of the consumers as there has been a shift in awareness.
Prevention is better than cure
“We are ensuring that eventually people don’t have to fall sick or be prey to a disease by selling our products in a very structured manner. Immunity is the focus as that is one of the most important things in staying safe,” he said. Until and unless the current generation’s cooperation is in synchronization with the guidelines laid down by us, the process of prevention will be slow. However, that is not the case anymore to a large extent.
Modernisation of Unani
He states that the youth has to accept herbs and other products with full faith. The products have to be pitched in a manner by assessing the product again and putting hard facts in front of the millennials. The perception of the Unani doctor has to be serious and full of faith in their minds. Youngsters today need to completely surrender to the hard facts and the adoption of the system as a whole is very important. The trust factor is key, according to him.
Conclusion
Mentioning how people have to become more aware of the market as to what needs to be done in certain situations, he said it has to be discussed at a forum with the Government of India as to what are the methods of education of the market. On a closing note he mentions that India needs to understand therapies and the youngsters also need to recognise certain trends and professors of Ayurveda, for example, can start giving speeches at schools and universities as academics are important and the systems of medication start with education.
