India warming up to vast potential of crowd-funding for healthcare

Of the 1.3 million active patients in India, around 890,000 have given consent to be up for adoption

In five days of its launch, the Ni-kshay 2.0 scheme has found donors for 190,000 tuberculosis patients, hinting at the Centre tasting success with crowdfunding for a public cause at a time India — especially its private sector — is warming to the practice.

The central government scheme, launched as part of the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan on September 9, aims to involve the community in the drive to eradicate TB by 2025, and also ensure sufficient nutrition for patients.

Food is often called a “vaccine” for TB, as the bacteria causing the disease is more harmful for