AsianScientist (Oct.11, 2024) – Growing up in India in the late nineties, 12-year-old Shayoni, whose name has been changed in the story to protect her identity, often fainted due to excruciating period pains. Brushed off by doctors and adults as “something natural that happens to most women,” she endured the debilitating pain every month for the next two decades. It was only when Shayoni, now 35, moved abroad with her husband and consulted a doctor to start a family that she discovered the underlying cause: endometriosis.
A medical condition in which tissues similar to the lining of the uterus grow outside the womb, endometriosis can lead to complications that include chronic pain in the pelvic region, heavy menstrual bleeding and difficulty in getting pregnant. Endometriosis affects approximately 247 million women worldwide, of which around 42 million live in India. It can start at a person’s first menstrual period and last until menopause. While there is no cure, its symptoms can be managed with medicines, or in some cases, surgery. The condition can also significantly impact the mental health of women trying to conceive.
As soon as Shayoni had plans to start a family, she began using a popular app to track her ovulation cycle. However, Shayoni soon realized that the app did not take into consideration users with gynecological conditions such as endometriosis, leading to inaccurate prediction of ovulation dates. This left her stressed and confused. Then her husband chanced upon another app called Premom, which factored in the symptoms and abnormalities caused by endometriosis. “This helped me track my ovulation cycle more reliably,” Shayoni told Asian Scientist Magazine. “I now feel more in control of my health and fertility journey.”
THE RISE OF FEMTECH IN ASIA
Apps like Premom fall in the broad category of “FemTech” a term coined in 2016 by Ida Tin, a Danish entrepreneur and CEO of Clue, a menstruation-tracking app. According to the Cambridge dictionary, FemTech involves electronic devices, software or other technology relating to women’s health.
In 2020, the global FemTech market size was US$40.2 billion and is projected to grow at an average rate of 13.3 percent to reach US$75.1 billion by 2025, according to FemTech Analytics, a US-based information analytics agency. The FemTech market in India alone, where at least 18 percent of women suffer from menstrual disorders, is expected to reach US$4 billion by the end of 2024, according to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries.
“The massive digitization of healthcare, partially driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, has given a muchneeded boost to the FemTech industry. More and more technologies aimed at improving women’s health are being designed,” said Kate Batz, director of FemTech Analytics, in an interview with Nikkei Asia, a news magazine.
Apps like Luna Luna in Japan, Meet You in China and Maya in India are becoming increasingly popular in Asia for women who want to track their fertility period and monitor the stages of their pregnancy. Mumbai-based 34-year-old Tara, whose name has also been changed in the story to protect her identity, has been using the Flo app (another popular app in India) for four years to track her periods and predict her monthly fertile window. “Once I got pregnant, I used the app to track the baby’s growth in all trimesters. It was fun to see how my baby was growing. I liked how the app explained the weekly development of the baby in simple terms. It definitely made a difference in my pregnancy journey,” she said. “I usually don’t pay for apps, but I did for this one. Even though it’s slightly expensive, it’s really worth it.”
Meanwhile in China, the Meet You app which was launched in 2013, has evolved from a simple period tracker to a social media giant. It has over 300 million users, according to Apple’s App Store. Women can monitor their menstrual cycles, buy health products and book medical appointments through the app. On Meet You’s online marketplace, users can buy anything from prenatal vitamins to vibrators, sign up for HPV vaccination or make an appointment with a gynecologist.
Now, beyond menstrual and fertility apps, FemTech innovations also extend to broader healthcare services. Halodoc, an Indonesian app, helps to increase women’s access to healthcare services by offering telemedicine services, medication delivery, home lab tests and virtual doctor consultations. She’s Well, a holistic well-being app from Singapore, offers services related to women’s physical, mental and emotional health.
Jyoti Bajpai, a lead consultant in medical and precision oncology at Apollo Hospitals, a chain of private hospitals in India, said that these apps offer women a sense of empowerment in managing their health. However, Bajpai cautioned against over reliance on these apps, especially if the users have medical conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome or endometriosis.
“It is advisable to consult a gynecologist if one suffers from a preexisting condition such as endometriosis, as not all apps offer tailored results,” she said.
LIMITED ACCESS TO FEMTECH
The advantages of FemTech, however, don’t reach all women. Over 44 million women in low-income countries lack access to FemTech services, according to a 2023 report in the International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics.
In order to bridge that gap, a growing number of companies are partnering healthcare providers, insurers, employers and other organizations to reach larger audiences and drive greater adoption of their solutions. According to Lindsay Davis, founder of the FemTech Association Asia, Singapore, out of all the FemTech companies in Southeast Asia, 77 percent were established only in the last five years.
“There is also a growing focus on fertility, with companies like Zora Health (Singapore), PLans (India) and Lumirous (Malaysia) developing innovative solutions such as ovulation tracking apps, at-home fertility test kits and platforms connecting consumers with fertility specialists and resources,” said Davis.
While menstrual care remains the leading FemTech category represented in Southeast Asia, entrepreneurs have already begun to expand the basket of FemTech offerings to support the reproductive journey for women and their families, added Davis.
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This article was first published in the print version of Asian Scientist Magazine, January 2024.Click here to subscribe to Asian Scientist Magazine in print.
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