IET India to Lead a Disease Surveillance Project with Centre for Health Research and Innovation (CHRI) as Part of a Funded CSR Project by Siemens Healthineers India

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) India is leading a Disease Surveillance Project in partnership with CHRI (Centre for Health Research and Innovation) that will use publicly available non-personal data to improve India's public health infrastructure's preparedness for disease outbreaks by predicting outbreaks. The project is funded by Siemens Healthineers, India as part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). 

Speaking on this initiative Dr. Vikram Venkateswaran, Healthcare Working Group, IET Future Tech Panel, said, “This is a landmark initiative from the IET Future Tech Panel on a challenge of National importance. We want to be able to demonstrate the power of publicly available data for health surveillance and at the end of the project, build a first of its kind, scalable model. With combined strengths of CHRI, IET and Siemens Healthineers, I am sure we will be able to build a unique solution to scale.”

Neeraj Jain, Country Director, PATH India said, “The pandemic shed light on the importance of real-time monitoring of disease to meet the healthcare needs of the country. The government’s Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme promises to enable tech-enabled monitoring of disease trends, for epidemic prone diseases for early detection and response, thus enabling the prevention of another healthcare crisis. Through this initiative and collaboration, we aim to help bring this mission to fruition.”

Shekhar Sanyal, Country Head, IET India added, “These kinds of multi-party, industry-partnerships and synergies are key in establishing important data-led, predictive and intuitive healthcare systems that the country needs today. Tech-driven projects will be the cornerstone of lasting social impact, especially in healthcare. This project is a direct step towards solving the Healthy Lives societal challenge from the IET’s global strategic plan for 2030.”

Speaking on the growth of Healthcare IT, Dileep Mangsuli, India Executive Director- Development Centre of Siemens Healthineers said, “The digital health will transform population health in future. Healthcare analytics will become core to healthcare planning and future preparedness. Predictive analytics and forecasting models can be used to prepare for future disease outbreaks. This project is definitely a step in the right direction, and we are happy to be supporting this initiative.”

Spread over a year, the project aims to feed into the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme.

About the IET

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), is one of the world’s largest professional societies for engineers, headquartered in the UK. Turning 150 last year, The IET works closely with industry, academia and government in its mission to engineer a better world. In line with this, The IET also has specific global initiatives around key sectors that are relevant to solving problems that impact the society at large. In India, IET works through a large community of engineers and technologists spread across 8 Local Networks in India. Positioned as a neutral platform for volunteers and contributors, IET’s strategy is to promote cutting-edge, thought leadership work focussed in areas such as Future technologies, Future of Mobility and Transport, as well as the Future of Work. With members and volunteers, IET drives innovation and change in the fields of engineering and technology by researching, investigating, reviewing and analysing the industry’s challenges, proposing solutions that create impact and drive change.

About CHRI

Centre for Health Research and Innovation (CHRI) is a PATH affiliate in India that aims to create lasting public health impact across the country. We work on some of the most critical areas of public health including tuberculosis, maternal newborn child health and nutrition, neglected tropical diseases, malaria and vaccines. Our work is spread across India with communities, healthcare professionals, policy makers, innovators, hospitals, laboratories and pharmacists to bring about sustainable, scalable and impactful change in public health.

About Siemens Healthineers

At Siemens Healthineers, we pioneer breakthroughs in healthcare. For everyone. Everywhere. As a leading medical technology company, Siemens Healthineers enables healthcare providers worldwide through its regional companies to increase value by empowering them on their journey towards expanding precision medicine, transforming care delivery, improving the patient experience, and digitalizing healthcare. 

Siemens Healthineers is continuously developing its product and service portfolio, with AI-supported applications and digital offerings that play an increasingly important role in the next generation of medical technology. Siemens Healthineers also provides a range of services and solutions to enhance healthcare providers' ability to provide high-quality, efficient care to patients. We support healthcare providers across the entire range of patient care - from prevention and early detection to diagnosis and on to treatment and after care; and playing a significant role in transforming care delivery in India.