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India's demographic edge: A key to addressing global healthcare crisis

The global healthcare sector is grappling with a severe shortage of skilled professionals, driven by aging populations and escalating healthcare demand

Healthcare, rural healthcare, health workers

Photo: Shutterstock

Preetha Reddy

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The global healthcare sector is at a critical juncture. A projected shortfall of 10 million healthcare professionals by 2030, as per the WHO, poses a dire threat to the stability of health systems worldwide, including in developed nations like the US, UK, Germany, and Japan. This unprecedented crisis coincides with India's unique demographic advantage—a youthful population with 600 million under 25—offering the country an unparalleled opportunity to bridge healthcare workforce gaps at both domestic and global levels. However, realizing this potential requires deliberate policy and financial interventions, particularly in the Union Budget 2025.

The Dual Challenge: Domestic and global workforce gaps

The global healthcare sector is grappling with a severe shortage of skilled professionals, driven by aging populations and escalating healthcare demands. As a case in point, the USA projects a shortfall of 124,000 physicians by 2034, while Germany will need an additional 300,000 healthcare workers by 2030. These stark deficits underline the urgent need for a global solution to address workforce gaps and ensure the sustainability of healthcare systems worldwide.
 
 
India too, despite its demographic advantage of a young and growing workforce, faces equally pressing challenges. To reach a threshold of 34.5 skilled health workers per 10,000 population, the country needs 650,000 additional nurses and midwives and 160,000 doctors by 2030 to meet its own healthcare needs. This shortage not only threatens public health outcomes but also represents a significant economic opportunity cost. Filling these roles could generate an estimated Rs 72,560 crore through salaries, consumption, and taxes—equivalent to 80 per cent of the nation’s Public Health Budget for 2024–25.
 
India has just 1.6 hospital beds per 1000 population as compared to the National Health Policy 2017 recommending availability of 2 beds per 1000 population. A Niti Aayog report, “Healthy States, Progressive India” finds significant gaps in healthcare provider positions in public health facilities across states and levels. These range from 0 per cent-59 per cent for ANMs at sub-centres, 0 per cent-75 per cent for staff nurses at PHCs and CHCs, 6 per cent-64 per cent for medical officers at PHCs, and from 0 per cent-78 per cent for specialists at district hospitals, with the problem more acute in the larger stages. 
 
Adding to this challenge is India’s uneven healthcare infrastructure with rural areas, home to 65 per cent of the population, being critically underserved. As against the MoHFW guidelines of one FRU (First Referral Unit) per 500,000 population, several states, especially the larger ones, have 50 per cent or less of the required functional FRUs. This disparity highlights the critical shortage of healthcare professionals in India and emphasizes the need for strategic recruitment and deployment to bridge these gaps. There is an urgent need for targeted investment in skilling and infrastructure so that India’s potential as a global healthcare leader can be leveraged.
 
Addressing internal shortages and aligning its workforce development strategy to meet global demand will ensure that India stands poised to transform its healthcare sector into an engine of economic growth with global impact.

Expanding the talent base 

To bridge the workforce gap, there is a need to increase the number of medical and nursing colleges in India to boost training capacity. India has around 5203 nursing institutes and 706 medical colleges for a population surpassing 1.4 billion, and this capacity would require to be substantially boosted to meet the growing domestic and global healthcare demands. The International Council of Nurses in their message at annual WEF meeting at Davos 2025 highlighted how nursing should be promoted as an alternative career to those working in sectors where technology may result in loss of jobs as also more to be done to promote nursing as a career for men to meet the shortage. 
 
India’s doctor-population ratio is 1.2 per 1,000 population while the nurse- population ratio is 2.1 per 1,000 population. To reach the US levels of 3.61 doctors per 1,000 population, we will have to augment the number of medical and nursing seats. This will help to rapidly expand the pool of trained professionals ready to serve both rural and urban areas. 
 
Technical skilling for the allied healthcare workforce also has to become a priority as the growth in demand for them is expected to go up by 200,00 by 2030. Encouraging private-sector participation through special incentives and tax benefits for companies investing in skilling programs could spur the training and placement of thousands of paramedical workers and bolster India’s   capacity to meet urgent healthcare needs.
 
Along with an increase in skilling for talent, healthcare degrees and qualifications must be harmonized for easy acceptance not just internationally but also across states in the country. This will help ensure that India’s healthcare professionals can seamlessly fill roles wherever they are needed.

Union Budget 2025: Igniting India’s healthcare revolution

The upcoming Union Budget 2025 has the power to redefine India’s role on the global healthcare stage. To transform into a global healthcare hub and address both domestic and international workforce challenges, the government must focus on bold, visionary interventions that deliver tangible impact. These priorities certainly include:
 
Expand Healthcare Skilling at Scale: Establish dedicated healthcare skill development funds, create modern training centers, and update curricula to include emerging fields like AI-driven care and robotic surgery. To bridge workforce gaps and equip both medical researchers and clinicians with the skills needed to stay at the forefront of global healthcare innovation, specialized training in cutting-edge technologies such as machine learning, data analytics, and advanced robotics will be invaluable. Collaboration between private-sector players and technology partners can further accelerate these efforts, ensuring that the “Heal in India, Heal by India” mission remains robust and that healthcare professionals continue to lead in both quality and innovation.
 
Credentials for global mobility & incentivize talent retention:  Standardize medical and nursing qualifications with international benchmarks, ensuring Indian healthcare professionals are competitive globally. Also, provide tax relief, better working conditions, and competitive remuneration to address brain drain and retain talent within the country.
 
Strengthen rural healthcare infrastructure:  Allocate subsidies, low-interest loans, and GST exemptions to improve healthcare infrastructure in underserved areas, particularly Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

A vision for global healthcare leadership

At large, India stands on the brink of a transformative phase in its healthcare evolution. With targeted investments in workforce development, infrastructure, and technology, the nation has the potential to address its domestic challenges while establishing itself as a crucial contributor to the global healthcare ecosystem. This is not just an economic opportunity; it is a chance to uplift the nation’s youth, enhance public health, and champion global health equity. The Union Budget 2025 must lay the groundwork for this ambitious vision, positioning India as a beacon of innovation, leadership, and compassion in healthcare. 
Dr Preetha Reddy is an Executive Vice Chairperson at the Apollo Hospitals
 
Disclaimer: These are personal views of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of www.business-standard.com or the Business Standard newspaper
 

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First Published: Jan 30 2025 | 8:11 PM IST

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