NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Monday, June 6, 2016

Mansukhalal Suvalal, 77, travelled all the way from Ahmednagar, Maharashtra to Bengaluru, accompanied by his grandchildren, hoping to break his decade-long silence. In his battle with Stage IV throat cancer, he had lost his voice box after he underwent laryngectomy .

After reading an article published in the Times of India (December 2015) on voice prosthesis devices being made by a Bengaluru-based doctor, Mansukhalal rushed here. Following a 10-minute procedure during which he was implanted with the Made-in-India device, he uttered his first word in ten years, sending his grandchildren into raptures.

The device cost Mansukhalal a paltry Rs 50, whereas he would have had to cough up anything between Rs 35,000 to Rs 40,000 for an imported device. Not all patients are as fortunate, though, with most medical devices having to be imported and beyond the reach of the poor.