DP: Let’s start with First Aid Kits. Why do you need a first aid kit in the first place?
Bilal: Apart from labor laws specifying the need for such items to maintain a healthy and safe environment, keeping a first aid kit at the office or at home can prevent visits to the hospital and reduce the spread of infection from one worker to the next. Recent medical research supporting telemedicine practices have suggested that 70% of walk-ins to hospitals can be solved through a telehealth conference with a qualified doctor.
Though it will be a while before we see such practices becoming mainstream here, it is on this premise that having surgical supplies such as iodine, cotton bandages, wool, and scissors can save time and boost productivity. The very reason the bandaid was invented was because the wife of a senior executive of J&J had a habit of accidentally cutting her fingers in the kitchen. A makeshift solution was a cotton wool bandage dipped in iodine wrapped around the affected area with tape. This evolved into what we know as a bandaid. Sehat hopes to create a revolution in homes and offices through a physical representation of our good healthcare practices and our proud 70 year association with the Fazal Din Family – the “Sehat” kit
DP: Tell us about the ‘Sehat’ online pharmacy. Where in Lahore is the delivery extended to?
Bilal: SEHAT was launched in 2014 and delivers not only all over Lahore but to more than 300 locations all over Pakistan. We launched our home vaccination program in Lahore a year-and-a-half ago.
Our main three USPs are Affordability, Reliability, and Convenience. We procure our medicines directly from the manufacturer and offer savings for the end customer where we can. Though the parent company was formed in 2012, intense research and development was conducted to perfect all forms of delivery, namely temperature sensitive delivery (insulins ans vaccines). These items can be maintained at the appropriate temperature range for up to 42 hours during delivery due to our superior packaging.
In terms of organizational structure, my four elder brothers and I are involved in this company. Nadir Mumtaz, my eldest, is the CEO, while I handle Marketing and Product Development
DP: Do people have knowledge about using first aid kits in times of emergencies here?
Bilal: Yes and no. People understand the importance of having first aid kits in their offices and homes but they don’t possess adequate knowledge about how to treat certain emergencies. Eye injuries, burns, cuts, and migraines constitute the largest occurrences of such injuries
Sehat provides a kit that is (1) filled with ample supplies (2) affordable (Rs 2500) (3) chic and eye-catching and (4) easy to carry around
DP: Does it come with any instructions to use, or do you go to different schools, universities/give workshops to increase the awareness about their usage? (describe)
Bilal: We are in the stage of approaching different institutions to increase our visibility and to conduct R&D before promoting this product on a huge scale. It does not come with instructions but we are in talks with a FinTech company to provide solutions to purchase this kit at the click of a button by scanning a part of the kit
DP: What are your future goals and upcoming projects?
Bilal: Our future goals include:
– Facilitating insurance policyholders to purchase medication
– Partnering with patient care portals to provide medicine delivery based on e-prescriptions
– Developing first-aid QR codes for deployment
– Providing webinars for healthcare awareness (MyElaaj.com)
– Setting up workshops for good healthcare practices
– Promoting our partnership with Kidlr (kidlr.co or play store URL) a social app that promotes vaccination scheduling for children in Lahore
I would like to thank Daily Pakistan global for being the absolute end-all of ethical journalistic commitment and sound content creation and curation. Coming from a background of Online Marketing, I have found that Daily Pakistan boasts one of the highest traffic figures out of all websites in Pakistan (no 12 in Pakistan as I write this) A healthy lifestyle truly is a wealthy lifestyle, and I’m sure the world will see a wealth of useful information. Thankyou guys!
DP: It was indeed a pleasure speaking to you about SEHAT, Bilal. Keep the commendable work up.
