Meet Dr. Zubin J Daruwalla, the Health Industries Leader of PwC Singapore. He is at the forefront of the HealthTech boom sweeping through Southeast Asia and he believes digital health is at a pivotal moment, serving to disrupt South East Asia’s (SEA) healthcare industry. Singapore plays a leading role in empowering companies and nurturing growth in the sector, and much of it is driven by individuals like Dr. Daruwalla.
Defining the changes Covid has brought to the healthcare market, PwC and Dr. Daruwalla describe this as the New Health Economy(NHE) and he believes this is the future of healthcare.
With the NHE, the delivery and innovation of healthcare solutions are now guided by consumer needs, giving rise to digital health solutions that directly connect provider and patient. From telehealth to remote patient analytics, COVID-19 has normalised the use of digital solutions in our everyday lives, transforming healthcare norms.
When Dr. Daruwalla speaks, the healthcare industry in SEA tends to listen. He is a respected surgeon, entrepreneur, thought leader, futurist, mentor, and advisor. To find out what drives him and what has brought him to this point in his career, let’s take a closer look at the man.
Meet Dr. Zubin J Daruwalla
Graduating from the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland in 2005, Dr. Daruwalla holds additional medical qualifications from the RCSI and National University of Singapore. He first joined PwC Singapore in 2016 and currently serves in the role of Health Industries Leader. He occupies the role of advisor with the likes of Silver Factory Technology, nPlasty and SpeedDoc and has previously advised Galen Growth, MedShr, and others.
He currently serves as a consultant and clinical ambassador to MyDoc, a position he has occupied for the last seven years and boasts expansive experience within the healthcare industry, gleaned from exposure to various health models in different countries. He currently serves on the HMS faculty at Harvard, as part of the Surgical Leadership Capstone Faculty for the HMS Surgical Leadership Program. In his own words;
With a paradigm shift towards governments introducing telemedicine worldwide, I have been involved in a number of studies looking at how telehealth can play a role in improving patient care and outcomes and hope to continue my involvement in this very exciting and upcoming space, evident by my advisory role to a number of Med and Health Tech start-ups.
My extensive cross-cultural experiences from having lived in Ireland, the United Kingdom and Singapore have exposed me to a wide variety of cultures and life experiences. Having obtained full registration with each country’s respective medical council, I hope to continue clinical work and research with my current and keen interests being in healthcare consulting and continuing to be a thought leader in the digital health and medical education spaces. With strong administrative and organizational skills, I am also always looking at new and exciting opportunities to put my skill set to use.
Healthcare is showing phenomenal growth in SEA, in particular, Singapore. Health and BioTech sub-sectors saw funding to the tune of S$342 million in the first half for 2020, way above S$230 million the sector garnered during the whole of 2019, according to PwC’s Tech start-up funding trends and outlook: Singapore report.
Arguably, no one is better positioned to introduce your products and services to this market than Dr, Daruwalla, particularly if your focus is on innovative tech and digital-related sections of the industry.
This market is, in Medika’s opinion, the preferred choice for disseminating new health technology. Singapore benefits from an excellent centralized digital patient record, the National Electronic Health Record (NEHR), effective data trust, and transparency. Clear regulatory guidelines distinguish this market from the chaos of the American healthcare minefield.
Singapore warrants serious attention as a realistic and lucrative alternate market to launch into and offers a stepping stone into Asia. Dr. Daruwalla and PwC Singapore is your first port of call on your journey.
