Charting Healthcare’s Course in 2025
Dear Readers,
As we step into 2025, we extend warm wishes to our readers and patrons for a healthy and prosperous New Year. Double Helical, India’s leading health magazine, continues to serve as a comprehensive platform that acknowledges innovations and celebrates individuals, products, and services transforming the healthcare sector. This commitment reflects our dedication to promoting affordable, high-quality, and inclusive healthcare in the country. The New Year is an opportune moment to look back at the remarkable advancements achieved in 2024 and to set our sights on the promises of 2025. Technological innovations promise to redefine care delivery worldwide. This issue encapsulates these developments, offering thought-provoking stories to inspire action.
Reflecting on 2024, India’s healthcare sector witnessed significant strides. Increased funding in the Union Budget led to notable improvements in public health infrastructure, digital health, and research. Initiatives such as telemedicine, digital health records, and integrated health information systems enhanced accessibility and efficiency. Expanded health insurance coverage and dedicated resources for mental health underscored a holistic approach to healthcare. Meanwhile, new research provided critical insights into building a sustainable and resilient healthcare system capable of adapting to and recovering from shocks. These advancements highlight India’s progress toward strengthening public health and ensuring long-term service delivery.
Looking ahead, 2025 is poised to be a transformative year, driven by cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI). AI holds immense potential in healthcare, from predictive analytics for resource allocation to virtual assistants that streamline patient and clinician interactions. Developments in gene-editing technologies like Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) are also opening new frontiers in personalised medicine and disease management. Healthcare providers are partnering with technology firms to develop AI tools that enhance diagnostics, optimise sleep monitoring, and improve radiological imaging. These innovations promise financial and non-financial benefits, including better care quality, enhanced patient experiences, and greater clinician satisfaction.
A particularly promising advancement is in robotic surgery, which has revolutionised fields like gynaecology, urology, and cardiac surgery. Robotic systems address the limitations of traditional methods by combining precision, safety, and surgeon control. As highlighted in our story “Scalpel to Console”, robotic surgery has revolutionised women’s healthcare, by addressing the limitations of traditional minimally invasive surgeries. Procedures that once posed significant challenges, especially in anatomically complex areas, are now performed with enhanced precision and safety. Fifth-generation surgical robots, like the da Vinci Surgical System®, enable surgeons to perform complex procedures with unparalleled accuracy.
The January 2025 issue of Double Helical addresses critical healthcare concerns, leading with a cover story on Delhi’s annual winter pollution crisis. This recurring environmental emergency, with its severely detrimental impact on public health, draws parallels to the infamous Great London Smog of 1952. The story emphasises the urgent need for transformative action to prevent a full-blown public health disaster.
Catching up with the latest trends, we bring to you an article on the synergy between science and spirit, examining how integrated medicine combines the wisdom of ancient practices with the rigor of modern scientific approaches to deliver sustainable and personalised healthcare solutions. The issue also marks Hepatitis Day with a call to action against this significant threat to liver health. On the occasion of World AIDS Day 2024, the issue carries two articles focusing on the urgent need to tackle the inequalities and shortcomings that continue to fuel the HIV epidemic and hinder effective responses.
The issue also addresses the critical need for inclusivity and equitable healthcare for persons with disabilities. Our expert piece highlights the fact that over 1.3 billion people globally live with disabilities, underscoring the urgency of implementing inclusive policies and ensuring access to appropriate healthcare services. In an article on mental health, eminent voices emphasise the importance of mindful living practices and robust institutional support in navigating the increasing challenges to mental well-being. You will also get to read an article advocating for the scaling up of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination efforts. This is deemed crucial in the fight against cervical cancer, which remains the second most common cancer affecting women in India.
In 2025, Double Helical looks forward to a year of transformative progress in the field and pledges to continue documenting these advancements for our growing readership.
Happy reading!
Thanks and regards
Amresh K Tiwary,
Editor-in-Chief