Medimedia Health Private Limited, a global health care communication major, has recognised the potential of the patient education market in India and introduced education materials on antimicrobials and cardiology. Information on gastro-infections and respiratory-chest diseases are expected to be launched shortly. The company has been associated with pharma companies like AstraZeneca, Micro Labs, Dr. Reddys Labs, Glenmark, Lupin, Novartis, Torrent, and Panacea Biotech to offer the patient education material. Plans are underway to have dedicated references for pharmacists highlighting the problems and solutions to dispense and store drugs.

The company, which is known for its Intellectual Property content, set up the Indian operations at an investment of $2 million early last year and has been providing medical content for continuing medical education programmes in India. In the last few months, it has registered earnings to the tune of $1 million from here. The global sales of the company are pegged at $500 million.

In its first phase of expansion, Medimedia will be managing the services of medical advisory board, patient and community sites on the web, event-conference management and symposia to facilitate connections among the academia, doctors, health industry and the patients.

With Krames Systems, a leading tool in patient education, Medimedia will provide simple articles on health and diseases for patients. The aim of the patient education programme is to educate the public and help prevent rising healthcare costs, Mei Chan Wong, area director, Medimedia Asia said at a press conclave.

The company, which had been a part of the Vivendi Universal Publishing is now an independent international set-up having expertise in all forms of healthcare communication to support doctors, hospitals and patients. The products and services are designed to improve the quality of care for better outcomes for both the healthcare provider and the patient.

Patient education is in its infancy in India and we have chalked out strategies to evolve methods to make our models for dissemination of information to the various medical societies, private medical centres, government hospitals, ambulatory services, NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and medical education institutes, said K Venkatraman, CEO, Medimedia India. "We would be price-friendly and also look out for sponsors from the industry for communicating via print and electronic media," he added.

As a leading drug information and referencing system dealing with publications like Vidal, Gelbe Liste, Vademecum for Academic Drug Reference and MIMS Australia and Asia, Medimedia has acquired CIMS which is India's most referred practice based drug reference. It is also associated with ICON, a partner company and owns the works of the Frank Netter's healthcare illustrations.

Dr. Vivek Jawali, chief cardiologist and thoracic surgeon Wockhardt Hospital and Heart Institute who was present on the occasion said that the hectic schedules of surgeons and specialists did not permit patient education and counselling which was vital for improving health conditions. "The education references from Medimedia on disease conditions along with interactive health assessment tools would improve the quality of life," he noted.