A chief executive officer (CEO) is the highest-ranking executive in a company. The role of the Healthcare CEO is not only facilitators but also change-makers of the healthcare industry.  Their primary responsibilities include making major corporate decisions, managing the overall operations and resources of a company, acting as the main point of communication between the board of directors, the board, corporate operations and being the public face of the company.

Arjun Vaidya, CEO, Dr. Vaidya’s: New Age Ayurveda, has been listed under Forbes 30U30 and Business World 40U40. Over the years, Vaidya family members have passed down knowledge that has now led to 100+ FDA approved formulations for Ayurvedic proprietary medicine produced in a Ministry of AYUSH approved, ISO 9001:2015 and GMP Certified manufacturing facility that is also US FDA approved.

Dr. Vaidya’s is a 3-year-old New Age Ayurvedic products startup, which endeavors to bring the rich, traditional Indian science of Ayurveda to today’s modern consumer- both in India and Worldwide.

Health for the nation

Arjun shares his views, “It's a pretty complex question and I think it's something that needs concerted work from various stakeholders, taking the example of ayurveda, the critical challenge is solving access, important questions, consumers minus education and that is critical to get the message out. When we talk about concerted effort, especially for Ayurveda, everybody has a responsibility – be it the brand, the government, we as a consumer, research institutions, doctors, everyone has to come together. The critical thing to bring everything together is a concerted effort with all stakeholders involved. When we talk about Ayurveda as an industry or a space, we're taking the steps in the right direction and everyone is trying to work together with the Ministry of Ayush to push this message forward. Yet we're very far away from where we need to be in a country like India, and hence more collaboration through stakeholders, and a long term vision, everyone working through that vision of ‘health for the nation’ is critical, not just short term, selfish objectives, but a wider perspective. That's the biggest challenge that we as a country need, to solve these problems,” he says,

Impacting lives and being a digital brand

Arjun shares his journey, “It's been a beautiful journey, and we’ve grown as a business and as a brand. But what's the most beautiful thing about being in the healthcare sector is impacting lives and being a digital brand, in a short span of three and a half years we’ve fulfilled more than a million orders across 16,500 pin codes, giving the consumers access to high-quality products and care at the touch of their fingertips and that is the most beautiful part of this industry. We are able to solve specific healthcare problems of the consumers and impact their lives so far away from where we're sitting today,” he says.

Digital is the future

Arjun talks about the future of healthcare, “I'm a big proponent of this because for example, if you see tele-consultations, they have shot through the roof in this pandemic. We're now having conversations through a zoom call, however, 6 – 8 months ago, we would have never thought of it. I think digitalisation has changed lives and the consumer behavior has gravitated towards digital. The patient’s are able to talk to their doctor through tele-consultation who may be 1000 miles away and are being able to get some access to high quality healthcare through digitalisation. It has huge potential, but with healthcare, it has to be leveraged in the right manner. There has to be quality standards, there has to be feedback mechanisms, and it has to be regulated or sort of controlled in the way proliferated because quality is critical when it comes to healthcare. So the future is digital and there's amazing work happening but we need to control the proliferation and ensure the quality is maintained,” he says.

“I'm just an entrepreneur and a believer in ayurveda”
Arjun opens up about India spending more on healthcare, “I'm not a policymaker; I'm just an entrepreneur, and a believer in Ayurveda. I think in a country like ours, the ability to spend on healthcare is endless because we have such a long way to go. But as a developing country, we have our own share of different kinds of challenges. After this pandemic, topics like health care, community wellness, hygiene, which were not taken as seriously in India are now considered important. I keep telling people immunity was a luxury in India in February, but today immunity is essential. Everybody now knows Tulsi, Ashwagandha, Giloy, Chyawanprash and Kadha but that was not the case in February 2020. But I think this event has already changed people's thinking towards health and wellness and the government will also change their thinking as well and there will be more focus on this space,” he says.

(Edited by Rabia Mistry Mulla)