Healthcare in India - statistics & facts
As of 2022, India surpassed China becoming the world’s largest population. An increase in life expectancy and a gradually reducing death rate over the years have actively contributed to India’s burgeoning population, specifically the geriatric population. To cope with this growth, public health expenditure has been on the rise since 2014, with an increasing share of the country’s GDP being distributed towards public health care. In 2022, India’s expenditure on public healthcare stood at over two percent of the GDP. However, the healthcare system is dominated significantly by private healthcare. Private healthcare outnumbers public healthcare in most aspects, in terms of services, hospitals, and doctors.
The Indian healthcare market is driven by the rising prevalence of diseases, cost-effective healthcare delivery systems, advancements in technology, telemedicine, government healthcare schemes, and the adoption of health insurance.
With millions of Indians driven towards out-of-pocket health expenses, the government launched a new component of this scheme known as the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) in September 2018 which aimed at providing secondary and tertiary care to the estimated lower 40 percent of the population, free of charge. PM-JAY is completely funded by the government, and the central and state governments share the administrative and implementation costs of this scheme.
There are, at present, over one million physicians registered with the Indian Medical Council and over two million nurses registered with the Indian Nursing Council. The government has taken the initiative to overcome the disparity by increasing the number of undergraduate and postgraduate medical seats, establishing new medical colleges, and upgrading government medical colleges concerning specialties and infrastructure.
The Indian healthcare market is driven by the rising prevalence of diseases, cost-effective healthcare delivery systems, advancements in technology, telemedicine, government healthcare schemes, and the adoption of health insurance.
Universal health coverage
Owing to circumstances that favored the socio-economically advantaged sections of society while the underprivileged remained deprived of timely and affordable medical support, the government proposed a system of universal healthcare in 2015, also referred to as the Ayushman Bharat scheme. Over 586 million accounts were created under this scheme, with the majority belonging to Uttar Pradesh.With millions of Indians driven towards out-of-pocket health expenses, the government launched a new component of this scheme known as the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) in September 2018 which aimed at providing secondary and tertiary care to the estimated lower 40 percent of the population, free of charge. PM-JAY is completely funded by the government, and the central and state governments share the administrative and implementation costs of this scheme.
Healthcare workforce
In order to reach universal health coverage, it is essential to have a skilled, qualified, and motivated healthcare workforce. However, the present surge in demand for health workers is due to the growing population, aging, and rising noncommunicable diseases. Most medical professionals are concentrated in big cities and private practices because of better career opportunities, facilities, and lifestyles. Consequently, the workforce demand remains higher in rural and remote areas of the country. The current disparity between the number of healthcare workers required and available will eventually grow as demand rises.There are, at present, over one million physicians registered with the Indian Medical Council and over two million nurses registered with the Indian Nursing Council. The government has taken the initiative to overcome the disparity by increasing the number of undergraduate and postgraduate medical seats, establishing new medical colleges, and upgrading government medical colleges concerning specialties and infrastructure.
