The Hindu Business Line : Kaun banega arogyapathi?

Healthy living can be made easy, says the portal of a pharma player, when the accent is on interactivity and when the focus is on health aspects specific to Indians.

HEALTHY living, made easy, and more importantly, facilitated through information that is useful and specific to Indians?

Health portal www.livizi.com, developed by Dr.Reddy's Laboratories Ltd, the pharma player, would like to claim that it's a portal with a difference. It is networking users to build an e-community aimed at making healthy living a matter of joy — after all healthy living calls for a holistic approach.

When getting well matters, one may want to try different options by logging on to a whole range of alternative methods on healthy living — covering Ayurveda and herbs, yoga and meditation and healing therapies such as Reiki. And this is where Livizi would like to think it scores.

For after all, information is power but it makes a difference only when it is presented well. Most times it is serious, boring, difficult, confusing and often general. Livizi has sought to address these issues by seeking to build an e-community.

What started as a simple theme aimed at addressing the domestic formulation market business for the company has now, according to the portal, emerged into a platform that covers customers, doctors, pharmaceutical distributors and people, enabling it to shape up into an e-community network.

Milind S. Hardas and S. Chandrasekhar, part of the branded Formulations team of Dr. Reddy's, and handling customer interface for the company, say the venture has now become more things to more people and builds on long-term relationship as its unique sales proposition.

Unlike traditional portals, many of which have become mortal, this builds on the two-way traffic approach. The easy-way-to-healthy-living concept is built on this logic — the more you share, the more you receive.

The portal is designed to be interactive and user-friendly, offering users two-way communication through interactive features such as the bulletin board, where one can share views among groups, and through "Kaun Banega Arogyapathi" (KBA), a fun way of learning about health and winning prizes along.

Livizi is simply different, say the people behind it. Through interactivity, it seeks to demystify health and translates it into day-to-day healthy living. It has extended the content in over 11 regional languages in addition to English.

"On the Net, there is abundant information on health and related issues. However, most of the information is US or Europe-centric. The challenge for us was to develop content that relates to all of us in India. Not only have we done that but we have also covered it in regional languages, based on the data we have built over the years,'' Hardas says.

Symbolised by the butterfly, which radiates effervescent colours, Livizi seeks to induce a positive attitude towards life while exploring better ways to communicate and serve as a platform for the e-community, he says.

Given the fact that people are leading stressful, busy lives, with little time for health-related issues, a portal that offers interactivity would benefit users better, he says.

"What started as a patient education programme, where we had built significant information and data, has gradually emerged as a single-point interface for patients, doctors, and end-users. We have outsourced several areas to other experts and that has made the job of content development easy and helps us in time to market. We want to ensure that Livizi becomes a key part of doctors' schedule," says Hardas.

Also, "an important aspect of the whole exercise has been the contribution from employees of the company. Down the line, it will be possible to leverage the database. We expect to develop co-branded cards that help build further bonding,'' he says.

vrishi@thehindu.co.in

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