Issue # 130 – A Woman Dies Every Two Minutes in Childbirth; India’s Diabetes Cases to rise by 2050

Welcome to the 130th edition of your go-to source for women’s health updates! I’ve switched things up with a new format—hope you love the change and enjoy reading.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced the theme for World Health Day, April 7, 2025: Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures. This year’s focus is on improving maternal and newborn health and survival—a critical global priority, as a woman dies every two minutes due to complications in pregnancy or childbirth. With only five years remaining to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, prioritizing essential maternal and newborn care is crucial. Last year, a maternal health emergency was declared at the World Health Assembly, and a resolution was passed to accelerate action. 

Fragile health systems and limited resources have led to alarmingly high maternal and newborn death rates, with 64% of maternal deaths occurring in 29 crisis-affected countries. Governments, NGOs, donors, and development partners must act swiftly and collaboratively to end preventable maternal deaths and meet the SDG target of reducing maternal mortality to fewer than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030. At the current pace, over 80% of countries will fall short—highlighting the need for urgent, innovative, and targeted efforts to accelerate progress. 

Diabetes cases in India are projected to rise by 73% by 2050, raising serious concerns about the country’s health trends. A new study has highlighted how unhealthy lifestyles, irregular diets, high stress, and lack of physical activity are driving this surge. According to the International Diabetes Federation, 89.8 million people in India currently live with diabetes, making it the country with the second-highest number of diabetics worldwide, with a prevalence rate of around 12%. Poor dietary habits—such as consuming high-calorie foods, saturated fats, and sugary drinks—can cause insulin resistance, a key factor leading to diabetes. The regular intake of processed and fast foods, combined with minimal physical exercise, further increases obesity, one of the major contributors to the growing diabetes burden.

Diabetes among women, especially those with PCOS and pregnancies , remains an under-discussed issue despite alarming trends.

Meet Swarnima Bhattacharya, Co- founder of Gytree From a humble middle-class home in Lucknow to launching India’s first women’s health festival and building a supportive care platform, Swarnima’s journey is rooted in grit, purpose, and heart.

Inspired by the quiet strength of her parents, her journey in women’s health began in 2017 at the DO School’s social impact accelerator in Berlin, where she launched Thea—a women’s health initiative in a time when there were no VCs, no roadmaps—just a deep commitment to make a difference.

Those early efforts became the foundation for her current venture: Gytree , a comprehensive women’s health platform that bridges nutritional gaps and offers holistic, guided care through curated supplements, lab tests, consultations, and personalized programs 🙌

“We help women feel stronger, happier, and more in love with themselves,” she shares.

Read her full story

• InnerGize Raises ₹4.5 Cr ($526K) in Funding Round Led by Antler to Boost Mental Health Innovation. 
• Stance Health Raises $1M in Pre-Seed Round Led by General Catalyst to Revolutionize MSK Care. 
• Narayana Health has launched Narayana Aarogyam, a preventive screening initiative designed to empower individuals through early detection and personalised health tests. 
• Fujifilm India announced its latest CSR initiative “Care on Wheels” in Himachal Pradesh. The state-of-the-art diagnostic and imaging technology, strengthens healthcare infrastructure in Mandi and ensures access to proactive check-ups where population resides.
• MGM Healthcare, a multispecialty hospital in Chennai, has successfully performed the world’s first modified multivisceral transplant (MMVT) for the treatment of a rare intestinal disorder.
• National University of Singapore (NUS) has developed a method to fabricate personalised gingival (gum) tissue grafts using an innovative combination of 3D bioprinting and artificial intelligence (AI).

• Neuranics raises $8M for touchless magnetic sensing technology. The company’s technology enables gesture recognition by detecting subtle muscle movements without skin contact.
• illumicell AI, a Boston, MA-based techmed startup, raised $2M in pre-seed funding. Investors included healthcare operators, clinicians, and early-stage funds such as KOFA Healthcare, Harvard Phoenix Venture Fund, and MedTechSyndicates, as well as Dr. Jeremy Teoh.
• Bliss Aesthetics, a Bay Harbor Islands, FL-based AI-driven platform for cosmetic enhancement, raised $17.5m in seed funding.The round was led by Shine Capital, followed by Synchrony Ventures, Sheva Ventures, Point72 Ventures, and Cerca Partners.
• Osstec, a London, UK-based joint replacement implants startup using 3D printing technology, raised £2.5M in funding. The round was led by Empirical Ventures.
• Aelius Biotech, a Newcastle, UK-based biotech company providing laboratory gut models, raised £750K in funding.
• CMR Surgical, a Cambridge, UK-based medical devices company, raised over $200M in funding.
• mo:re, a Hamburg, Germany-based life science startup providing a laboratory platform, raised €2.3M in Seed funding.
• ByHeart, a New York-based infant nutrition company, has secured $72 million in funding according to a federal filing. The company previously announced a significant retail expansion into Walmart, Whole Foods Market, and Wegmans, which increased its retail footprint by over 200% last year.
• Future Family has secured a $400 million financing program from Clear Haven Capital Management to expand financing options for fertility treatments, including IVF and egg-freezing. The announcement represents a significant expansion of the company’s ability to provide financial solutions in the rapidly growing fertility market.
• A new medical device designed to address threatened miscarriage has secured £1 million in funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to begin clinical trials. The Callavid device, developed by UK-based Calla Lily Clinical Care, aims to transform how progesterone is delivered to women experiencing threatened miscarriage

• The United Nations agencies have warned that more women are at risk of dying in pregnancy and childbirth due to the present aid cuts by rich countries. According to a new UN report on trends in maternal mortality, over 700 women died from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth every day in 2023. That means approximately one woman is dying every two minutes. 
• Menopausal symptoms linked to future cognitive issues. A Canadian study has concluded that a reason women have greater risk of Alzheimer’s disease may be due to the loss of oestradiol during menopause
• Amid global surge of whooping cough cases, new antibodies offer hope in vaccine development. A study conducted at the University of Texas identified two antibodies, hu11E6 and hu1B7, that can prevent toxins associated with whooping cough from penetrating human cells.
• Pandemic-induced mental health issues continue; youngsters experiencing functionally debilitating struggles: Report. A report titled ‘Mental State of the World Report 2024’ by Sapien Labs looked into the mental well-being of internet-enabled population across the world
• Lumpectomy preserves sexual function in breast cancer survivors. Lumpectomy may better preserve sexual wellbeing than mastectomy, offering improved confidence, attractiveness, and comfort for breast cancer survivors
• The diabetes cases in India are set to rise by 73 per cent by 2050. The new study has sounded a warning to those adopting unhealthy lifestyles, irregular diets, stress and lack of physical activity.  As per the International Diabetes Federation, 89.8 million people suffer from diabetes in India. India is home to the second-largest number of diabetics globally, with a prevalence rate of around 12 per cent. 
• How global warming can affect your respiratory health | Explained. The impact of global warming and climate change on respiratory health is profound and presents a global health challenge that needs to be addressed
• Researchers are exploring the theory that RORγt+ dendritic cells could help the immune system from wrongfully identifying harmless food as allergens
• What does good health mean to an average Indian?Good health means different things to different people. While WHO defines good health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, good health does mean different things to different people
• Five years after COVID-19 first hit the United States, scientists are already brainstorming how to stop the next big virus. One possible solution? A special kind of ultraviolet light called far-UVC, CBS News reported
• Night shift workers might be able to protect their heart health by only eating during daylight hours, a new study says. Participants in an experiment experienced fewer heart health risk factors if they only ate during the daytime while working a night shift, researchers reported April 8 in the journal Nature Communications.
• An older person’s hearing might be a harbinger of heart health, a new study says. People who experience hearing loss are more likely to develop heart failure, researchers reported in the journal Heart.
• Heavy drinkers have an increased risk of developing brain lesions associated with memory and thinking problems, a new study says. Folks who imbibe eight or more alcoholic drinks a week have an increased risk of hyaline arteriolosclerosis, or a thickening and narrowing of the small arteries that feed the brain, researchers reported April 9 in the journal Neurology.

• IVI RMA North America, a leader in fertility care and assisted reproduction, has announced a partnership with TMRW Life Sciences to implement digital management and storage systems for frozen eggs, embryos, and sperm across its network of clinics
• Care Fertility and U-Ploid Biotechnologies have announced a research collaboration focused on improving egg quality and fertility treatment outcomes. The partnership aims to address one of the main factors contributing to infertility, which deteriorates rapidly with increasing female age.
• Evestia Clinical is set to redefine the clinical research landscape by delivering agile, expert-driven solutions to biotech innovators worldwide. With a rapidly growing demand for faster, more adaptive trials in complex therapeutic areas, this transformation comes at a critical time for the industry.
• CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society specializing in scientific content and knowledge management, and Cleveland Clinic, an academic health system with a global footprint, announced plans for a strategic collaboration that will unite the organizations’ unique expertise, technology, and data capabilities to fuel clinical research.
• Ypsomed, the leading developer and manufacturer of injection and infusion systems, and Sidekick Health, a digital health and therapeutics innovator, are launching an integrated digital health solution to better support people with obesity. Ypsomed’s autoinjectors seamlessly integrate into Sidekick’s digital health and chronic condition support app to help patients using GLP-1-based injectable therapies manage their treatment more effectively.

• The central drug regulator has laid down procedures to be followed while transferring drugs manufactured in the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in the country to the Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) in order to streamline the process and ensure that the drugs meet quality, safety and efficacy standards as per the requirement.
• The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has asked the medical devices manufacturers to re-submit fresh applications online for neutral code, Market Standing Certificate (MSC), and Non-Conviction Certificate (NCC) for approval, as it has switched the systems to provide auto-generated code and certificates to promote ease of doing business.
• Karnataka Chemists & Druggists Association (KCDA) has pointed out that its efforts with the state government led to the dissolution of Karnataka State Pharmacy Council (KSPC).

📳 – Quick Reads: 

• Can type 2 diabetes be reversed? Researchers found that dapagliflozin and diet combo helps nearly half of overweight adults with early type 2 diabetes achieve remission
• Under the sun, yet undernourished: India’s alarming Vitamin D deficiency crisis.Vitamin D deficiency is high in the Eastern region showing extreme levels of up to 38.81 per cent, highlights the report by ICRIER and ANVKA Foundation
• Your cat might not do the dishes, and your dog probably can’t fix your Wi-Fi, but they could be making you just as happy as a spouse or best friend.

🎉Have news to share? Publish a press release on FemTech India to reach industry-leading executives, investors, and passionate individuals.

See you next Friday, friends 👋
Navneet

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