SOCIAL IMPACT
South and Southeast Asia is home to more than 2 billion people and accounts for over 55% of the world’s disease burden. As the region grows and becomes more urbanised, life style changes are driving the incidence of chronic diseases leading to an increase in demand for good quality healthcare facilities and products. However, with the government spending in the region significantly trailing the world average and an exponentially increasing population, there exists a huge demand-supply gap for healthcare services and infrastructure in the region.
The challenge of bringing high quality healthcare at affordable prices could not be more acute as is in Asia. With rapidly rising population, historical under-investment in the sector is creating tremendous pressure on the existing healthcare infrastructure. The challenge is further complicated by certain differentiated issues in Asia:
- The nature of disease burden in Asia has significantly changed. No longer are infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis and cholera, as prevalent as they used to be. Chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease, increasingly dominate just as in the West
- Despite rising income levels and increasing affluence, per capita spend in healthcare lags significantly behind developed markets at an average of less than US$ 200 per capita (versus US$ 8,000 in the US)
- Most importantly, over 75% of patients in Asia that access healthcare pay out of pocket
Our key challenge, therefore is to invest in businesses that increase “access” and “affordability” for those who need it the most. As a healthcare focussed investor in a highly underserved region, Quadria aims to make a positive, transformational impact to its portfolio companies and their local communities above and beyond significant financial returns. Quadria’s companies bring about frugal innovation in their business models to achieve the twin objectives of addressing the mass market and at affordable prices. By investing in large scalable businesses, Quadria aims to achieve sustainable social impact by ultimately improving the lives of communities where we invest.
