India Inc.'s fitness freaks
By Angana Bharali

It's a cavernous air-conditioned structure with a smattering of people sitting around talking half-heartedly and reading newspapers. One man is fiddling with a computer, looking self-consciously busy. In comes a brisk and determinedly-cheerful nurse with a somewhat subdued man in tow. This is no airport lounge, but the reception area of the Executive Health Centre of Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre (EHIRC), the luxurious and well-equipped establishment, dedicated to giving a thorough once over to the management types.

Another venue, but same ambience. The same youngish men and women trying not to look too nervous. The same muted conversation and vain attempt to look busy. Perhaps the air-conditioner does not hum quite so efficiently and the hospital attendants don't talk in hushed whispers, but otherwise, this is another 'mecca' for health-conscious executives, the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital's executive ward.

Now, take a detour and walk to the first floor of EHIRC, within winking distance of the operation theatres and you will be privy to a different kind of scene. Here silence reigns, while anxious people wait for news of their loved ones. But the operation theatres themselves hum with activity, with 12-14 operations carried out in a day, and some 50,000 operations in a year, doctors, nurses, and sundry ward boys walk around busily. The contrast is chilling.

Well, here we go. For this hoopla is not just about illness and mortality, but about good old money. Be it corporate hospitals, round-the-clock doctors or plain pampering of managers, health is business. Agrees Naresh Trehan, 56, Executive Director, EHIRC: ''We have a tie-up with 200 companies, all of whom are sending their executives to us.'' Ditto for Apollo, which started its executive health centre in 1995, and has seen the likes of Gillette, Tata Overseas, State Bank of India, Eicher, and Maruti Udyog making a bee-line. V.K. Aneja, Apollo health centre's head, 45, says: ''My own uncle was unaware that he was suffering from liver cancer. It was a random check-up that saved his life.'' The doctors swear by the principle of prevention. Seconds Sameer Srivastava, 37, Senior Consultant, EHIRC: ''On the face of it, an annual urinalysis and X-rays may seem unnecessary, but we have often detected many incipient heart and other diseases, helping us save lives.'' The pitch: One man's extravagance is another's life-saver. And, the corporates are biting.

For a sample, Eicher has tied up with Apollo and sends all its above-40 executives for an annual check-up, and once every two years if their age is 30-35 years. Says Subodh Bhargava, retired CEO of Eicher, 58: ''It is not just a question of a executive health check-up. Eicher believes in showing its managerial cadres that they are cared for.'' Even the public sector behemoths like SBI and the UTI have something similar in place. Call them old-fashioned, but where healthcare is concerned neck-and-neck with the private sector companies. SBI, for the starters, spends an annual average of Rs 2,000 on the health check-up of its 60,000-odd managers.

And while the companies clamber on to the fitness bandwagon, hospitals are laughing all the way to the bank. Forget Mumbai and Chennai, in Delhi alone some 16,000-odd executives flock to these hospitals annually. Starting at 8.30 in the morning, they spend five-to-six hours at a stretch being probed and prodded. There are a string of tests, blood is drawn, X-rays taken, and teeth examined. Escorts even has a hi-tech scanning machine called the Magnetic Reasoning Imaging, just to detect any sign of abnormality in a person's heart. The bill? Hold your breath: the price ranges from Rs 2,000 in Apollo to Rs 5,000 in Escorts.

But isn't it all a bit of a hard-sell? Money-making gimmick maybe? The doctors beg to differ. Indians, they point out, are three-to-four times more prone to heart conditions than their western counterparts. Companies often fear losing their top executives, especially CEOs, through health-related factors such as heart attacks. For years, they have tried to insure their business against possible losses due to the sudden ill-health of their top executives. Nearly four lakh units of the innocuous sounding 'Key Man Policy' of the Life Insurance Company has been sold since 1996. So, who constitutes a 'key man'? Says P.C. Gupta, Director (Actuaries): ''There are two conditions which qualify a person as a 'key man'. He should have a shareholding of 25 per cent. And his family should have a minimum of 50 per cent.'' In plain terms: a CEO in whose hands lies the future of his company.

Now comes the tricky part. If the health of the CEO and other top executives is so important, should it be disclosed. If so, to whom? Points out S. Sandilya, 52, CEO, Eicher: ''If the CEO has a life-threatening disease, the board should be intimated. We have 10 full-time board members, and we keep them posted about everything.'' Probably what matters most in case of the CEO's ill-health is the question of succession. Perhaps the most famous case is that of Roberto Gozzereti, the late CEO of Coca-Cola who fell ill with cancer while still in office. To the world, the succession of Doug Ivester seemed quite smooth, but behind the scene Gozzereti had taken the trouble of informing his board, and tying up the loose ends. Can this be replicated in India?. Affirms Onkar Goswami, Consultant, CII, and one of the authors of the CII corporate governance: ''I believe in best practices, but refuse to go overboard. Nowhere in the world is public disclosure of health mandatory. The board should be able to take care of shareholders' interest.'' The SEBI also seems so. Avers Pratip Kar, Executive Director, SEBI: ''I feel that any material event which has an impact on the business should be disclosed. We have listed around 100 such events. However, we have not just focused on health.'' So health is important, ask the companies and the doctors. But, that apart, the ordinary shareholders will just have to pray that companies do enough to keep their top-ranking men in good shape, and that the boards do their bit.

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