Log in to health

Sharmistha Dey, formerly an editor with the Network 18, decided to start BoloHealth, a social networking website for people interested in all things medical.

The social networking website sphere is going niche. The Internet is fast moving towards creating a networking culture with a purpose. Maybe that’s why Sharmistha Dey, formerly an editor with the Network 18, decided to start BoloHealth, a social networking website for people interested in all things medical. Bolohealth.com greets you with forums, discussion threads, blogs, quizzes and presentations and expert opinions about various health conditions.

In 2008, the founders of the site — Dr Simanta Sharma, Jini Mathai and Dey — conducted a survey, and learnt that a chunk of Indian “health enthusiasts” turned to search engines to gain knowledge about matters of health, and not too many landed the right results. “We launched the site in August 2009 after a year’s research. Our USP is the high level of interactivity and expert advice that we provide.

We’ve pooled in doctors and medical experts with varied specialisations, to ensure that the information is credible,” says Dey, who’s also the editor and chief content officer of BoloHealth. Each expert on the panel has a blog.

Also, once you’ve signed up (the registration’s free), you get a profile page of your own, using which you can start your own blog and connect with other users through real-time messages. Latest discussions and user activities show up at the bottom of the site’s homepage so everyone is always in the loop about new developments.

While the quizzes and polls on the website is are made by the site staff of 10, the images for the slideshows and videos are sourced from other sites. Another good feature is the contact details of doctors, hospitals and healthcare reso-urces from across the country.