When Medicines Speak, Inclusion Begins

With over 1.2 billion mobile subscribers and nearly a billion smartphone users expected by 2026, India has both the technology and the responsibility to make healthcare accessible for all

- Archana Jyoti

When her six-year-old son developed a high fever one night during the Covid-19 pandemic, Lakshmi, a visually challenged homemaker, found herself in a desperate situation. Though she had several medicines at home and knew what needed to be given, there was no help at hand nearby to help her identify them.

"I had the tablets in my hand, but I couldn't tell which one was for fever and which was for stomach pain," she recalled, her voice trembling. "I didn't want to risk giving him the wrong medicine. If there had been a QR code or an audio label, I could have managed. I felt completely lost that night."

Her story reflects a wider public health concern — the lack of accessible medicine packaging for India's visually impaired, low vision and elderly citizens. With over six million visually impaired people and a rapidly ageing population, India faces a growing challenge in ensuring accessible healthcare for those with limited vision.

During the coronavirus crisis, this concern deeply troubled Dr. Mathew Varghese, senior orthopaedic surgeon at St. Stephen's Hospital, Delhi. He wondered how visually impaired patients would safely manage their medications when physical movement was restricted.

That question led Dr. Varghese and Prof. Smiriti Singh, a visually impaired English professor at Maitreyi College, Delhi University to explore the potential of QR (Quick Response) codes as an accessibility tool.

By scanning a QR code on a medicine strip, patients could use a smartphone's screen-reader feature to hear details such as the medicine's name, dosage, expiry date, and instructions - offering independence and safety, they felt.

Prof. Singh noted that visually challenged persons face enormous challenges due to the absence of accessible design in essential goods, particularly medicines.