Impacting people health through Arogya World

August 1, 2023

Dr. Nalini Saligram, in conversation with Dr. Rajeshwari Narendran, HR expert, a renowned psycho dynamic analyst, global trainer and academician, talks about her passion to build a health conscious, Arogya World, her brain child and challenges for women leadership.

Dr. Nalini I am so thrilled to see that you are leading woman power in social sphere working for massive awareness on life style diseases and creating a great impact in the Indian corporate to be the champion voice of healthy work practices. Please enlighten us the inspiration, purpose and concept behind Arogya World.

NS I founded Arogya World on 8 March 2010 – International Women’s Day – with an all-woman board. I was working at a leading pharmaceutical company in the US and while I was interacting with smart scientists and doing decent day-to-day work, I wasn’t satisfied. I didn’t know if what I was doing was making a real difference in the world.

I started Arogya World to make a meaningful contribution to global health, working with like-minded people and like-minded organisations. That is still what guides us today.

We chose to work in diabetes and its prevention in India as diabetes and other NCDs are among the biggest health & development challenges of the century. There are now a...

Dr. Nalini Saligram

Nalini Saligram, Ph.D. is founder & CEO of Arogya World (arogyaworld.org), a global health non-profit helping people lead healthier lives by preventing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) through health education and lifestyle change, in India. She is an Ashoka Fellow and has a Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Science. A tireless advocate for NCD prevention, Nalini leverages public-private partnerships and global platforms to improve the world we live in. She led Arogya World to make and fulfill multiple commitments at Clinton Global Initiative and United Nation’s Every Woman Every Child initiative. Arogya World was a finalist for the Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation (2014), was highlighted in a book The Healthcare Gamechangers (2019), and was a recipient of the 2021 Google AI for Social Good Award. Nalini recently won the 2022 Business World award for Individual Excellence in Healthcare. Under Nalini’s leadership, Arogya World designs and implements scalable, science-based NCD prevention programs. The non-profit, now >10 years old, has reached more than 7.5 million people in India, using a Doorstep health model, taking prevention to people where they live, learn and work. Having shown proof of concept, Arogya in the next decade, is expanding reach and impact by working with government and large partners, leveraging technology to really scale (Goal: 50 million in 5 years). She is now leading an ambitious effort to make Bangalore India’s first Arogya City. Nalini was included in Indiaspora’s 2021 Philanthropy list. She lives in Atlanta and Bangalore.

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