International Women's Day is celebrated every year on March 8, to commemorate the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of women. The aim of the day is to spread the message of gender equality and promote a better society where there is no gender bias. This year, the theme of International Women's Day is "Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow". 

Entrepreneurship in India was not always a popular trend, especially among women. However, the tide is turning now. With whatever little opportunity is available, the female population of the country is choosing entrepreneurship as a profession. In the last few years, the way Indian women have shown the courage to walk on the difficult road to entrepreneurship is really commendable. 

The beauty of this entrepreneurial growth is that the initiative comes from not just big cities but also from small towns and remote villages.

Why women in healthcare?

Healthcare, unlike other industries, needs empathy and compassion as a fundamental characteristic trait. Entrepreneurs who are empathetic towards the needs of their patients and users as well as their staff and employees can hope to grow and do well. Women certainly have empathy in abundance or so we believe. 

Healthcare ventures need collaborations. Between doctors, engineers, admin, marketing, finance etc. Women by nature are collaborative and women entrepreneurs can use this skill well to grow their entities. Apart from this, women tend to dig deep past what is presented to them. This helps in getting to the root of each issue and putting in a fix. Healthcare has so many variables where errors can occur.

Healthcare has traditionally attracted women to the workforce for e.g. in nursing and in medical schools where today 50-60% of the classrooms in India are women. Therefore, as a woman entrepreneur one gets to work with one’s own female tribe. 

Here are 5 women transforming the healthcare sector in India 

Meena Ganesh 

In 2013, Meena Ganesh founded Portea Medical, a home-healthcare company that operates across 16 cities in India. She brings to patients services at home, covering the full range of geriatric, chronic, post-operative care as well as allied healthcare services that are affordable and convenient to access. They are also in constant touch with their customers to see what they are looking for and discover new solutions.

Visit their website to know more. 

Neerja Birla 

Neerja Birla is the Founder and Chairperson of Mpower, an organization that works towards tackling mental health issues among the youth. The aim of Mpower is to remove stigma, the primary roadblock to mental wellness. 

They work to improve awareness and understanding of mental health conditions through workshops at schools, colleges, and corporate companies. The Center offers diagnostics, treatment, and counseling for psychiatric conditions such as anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders. 

The Mpower Foundation aims at making mental healthcare services accessible to members of economically-backward families, so that the cost barrier is not a deterrent to quality medical care.

Visit their website to know more. 

Aditi Hazara Ganju 

After a decade-long career in healthcare, Aditi Ganju realized how difficult it was for women to find good maternity care centers in their neighborhood. She questioned herself, how could women find which center worked best for them? Or which doctor was the most qualified to attend to their needs? 

Realizing that an information gap existed in the maternal care industry, Aditi founded Togetherforher.com, a community that provides quality reviews and guidance, helping women make confident decisions about their choice of a maternity hospital. Aditi’s website also offers videos of medical care along with articles on pre and post-maternity care.

Visit the website to know more. 

Sunita Maheshwari 

With technology at the forefront of most advancements in healthcare, Sunita Maheshwari realized early on that there was a need to disrupt the healthcare sector by using technology for diagnosis. 

The doctor-turned-entrepreneur is the Chief Dreamer at Teleradiology Solutions and RXDX multi-speciality acute care clinics in Bengaluru, apart from incubating other startups in the telehealth space, including Healtheminds, a tele counseling initiative. She also set up a software company that builds teleradiology software, to take diagnostic solutions to patients in rural areas who could not afford it.

Visit the website to know more.