Growing Population, Booming Healthcare Sector

One driver of growth in the healthcare sector is India’s booming population. By increasing rate of 2% annually by 2030, India I expected to surpass China as the world’s most populous nation. By 2050, the population is projected to reach 1.6 billion.

This population increase is due in part to a decline in infant mortality, the result of better healthcare facilities and the government’s emphasis on eradicating diseases such as hepatitis and polio among infants. In addition, life expectancy is rapidly approaching the levels of the western world. By 2025, an estimated 189 million Indians will be at least 60 years of age – triple the number in 2004, thanks to greater affluence and better hyfiene. The growing elderly population will place an enormous burden on India’s healthcare infrastructure.

However, India’s thriving economy is driving urbanization and creating an expanding middle class with more disposable income to spend on healthcare.

Pharmaceutical industry opportunities

Despite widespread poverty and inadequate public healthcare provision, India has much to offer the leading drug makers. An increase in lifestyle diseases resulting from the adoption of unhealthy western diets, combined with a growing middle class that has more disposable income to spend on treatment, will provide new opportunities for global pharmaceutical firms.

Manufacturing

India has emerged as a major supplier of several bulk drugs, producing these at lower prices compared to formulation producers worldwide.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) already have approved 85 Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) and formulation plants in India, the highest such number outside the US. India is poised to become a major exporter of pharmaceuticals, particularly generic and OTC drugs, to global markets.

Conclusion

The Indian healthcare sector can be viewed as a glass half empty or a glass half full. The challenges the sector faces are substantial, from the need to improve physical infrastructure to the necessity of providing health insurance and ensuring the availability of trained medical personnel. But the opportunities are equally compelling, from developing new infrastructure and providing medical equipment to delivering telemedicine solutions and conducting cost-effective clinical trials. For companies that view the Indian healthcare sector as a glass half full, the potential is enormous.

Why choose healthcare sector as a Career

The Indian healthcare sector has been growing rapidly and is estimated to worth of $ 40 billion USD, by the year 2012. It contributes 5.2% on the GDP making it the third largest growth sector in India.  The healthcare market has grown up to US $ 22.8 billion in the year 2005 at a CAGR of 16% and is expected to grow up to $50.2 billion by 2011 and US $ 78.6 billion by 2016

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The private players are increasing their foot hold in this sector, as nearly 90% of the growth will come from private hospitals and further the private hospitals in the country are expected to rake in $ 35.9 billion in 2012 compared to $ 15.5 billion in 2006. 

India has the fastest growing healthcare sector in Asia with an expected growth rate of 22% followed closely by China and Vietnam. In fact Indian healthcare technology is poised to be worth more than US$ 254 by 2012. In the year of 2007 the healthcare sector attracted US$ 379 million in 2007 which is 6.8% of the total private equity investment. 

The growth and future of this sector is bright and as a result there are lots of career opportunities in this field, with a lot of growth potential.

Opportunities within India’s Healthcare Sector

Medical tourism on the rise:
Given the current state of India’s healthcare system, its challenges and its growth prospects, Medical tourism is one of the major external drivers of growth of the Indian healthcare sector.

According to a new report published by RNCOS, titled "Booming Medical Tourism in India" India’s share in the global medical tourism industry will reach around 3 per cent by the end of 2013. The report states that medical tourism is expected to generate revenue around US$ 3 billion by 2013, growing at a CAGR of around 26 per cent during 2011–2013. The number of medical tourists is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of over 19 per cent during the forecast period to reach 1.3 million by 2013.

India’s private hospitals excel in fields such as cardiology, joint replacement, orthopedic surgery, gastroenterology, ophthalmology, transplants and urology, “SANCHETI IS ONE OUT OF THOSE SUCCESSFUL HOSPITALS.”

Emerging health insurance market:
In recent years, there has been a liberalization of the Indian healthcare sector to allow for a much-needed private insurance market to emerge.
Due to liberalization and a growing middle class with increased spending power, there has been an increase in the number of insurance policies issued in the country.
Even though only 10% of the Indian population today has health insurance coverage, this industry is expected to witness tremendous growth over the next few years as a result of several private players that have entered into the market. Health insurance coverage among urban, middle- and upper-class Indians, however, is significantly higher and stands at approximately 50% .
However, penetration of health insurance in the rural parts of India is less. Hence, there is a great scope of future growth in Health insurance in rural India.

Growth of telemedicine:
Only 25% of India’s specialist physicians reside in semi-urban areas, and a mere 3 % live in rural areas. As a result, rural areas, with a population approaching 700 million, continue to be deprived of proper healthcare facilities.
One solution is telemedicine—the remote diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of patients via videoconferencing or the Internet. Telemedicine is a fast-emerging trend in India, supported by exponential growth in the country’s information and communications technology (ICT) sector, and plummeting telecom costs.

Medical equipment market:
The rebuilding of India’s healthcare infrastructure, combined with the emergence of medical tourism and telemedicine, will drive strong demand for medical equipment, such as x-ray machines, CT scanners and
Electrocardiograph (EKG) machines.. Many international companies have expanded their operations in the Indian market in recent years and established manufacturing facilities to assemble equipment for the domestic market and export sales. The competition is expected to intensify with the entry of more global firms into the medical equipment marketplace.

The government is encouraging the growth of this market, through policies such as
•    Reduction in import duties on medical equipment,
•    Higher depreciation on life-saving medical equipment (40%, up from 25%),
•    A number of other tax incentives.

Growing population booming Healthcare

One driver of growth in the healthcare sector is India’s booming population. By increasing rate of 2% annually by 2030, India is expected to surpass China as the world’s most populous nation. By 2050, the population is projected to reach 1.6 billion.

This population increase is due in part to a decline in infant mortality, the result of better healthcare facilities and the government’s emphasis on eradicating diseases such as hepatitis and polio among infants. In addition, life expectancy is rapidly approaching the levels of the western world. By 2025, an estimated 189 million Indians will be at least 60 years of age—triple the number in 2004, thanks to greater affluence and better hygiene. The growing elderly population will place an enormous burden on India’s healthcare infrastructure. Thus requiring greater and better healthcare.

However, India’s thriving economy is driving urbanization and creating an expanding middle class, with more disposable income to spend on healthcare.

Thanks to rising income, today at least 50 million Indians can afford to buy Western medicines—a market only 20% smaller than that of the UK. If the economy continues to grow faster than the economies of the developed world, and the literacy rate keeps rising, much of western and southern India will be middle class by 2020.

Indian Healthcare Scenario

Dr. Parag Sancheti
Chairman, Sancheti Institute
of Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation, Pune

Healthcare has emerged as one of the most progressive and largest service sectors in India. The Indian healthcare sector is expected to become a US$ 280 billion industry by 2020 with spending on health estimated to grow 14 per cent annually. Everyone is concerned about the quality of Healthcare services. We, the medical and the healthcare management fraternity, need to work together to improve the quality  and create an awareness.

The ideal ratio for hospital beds per 1000 population is 4 however, current ratio stands at 1.11 hospital beds per 1000 population. Thus India would require another 1,75 million beds by the end of 2025. Today the challenge in front of the healthcare industry is to make to access to healthcare available and inclusive as also to ensure the quality of healthcare consistent across the country, and to reduce the cost of delivery without comprising on the quality. These challenges can be overcome by improving budgetary allocation to public healthcare, and introduction of a proper regulatory mechanism to improve the quality of the service delivery. The large scale public health challenges need to be met with technology enabled solutions as well.

Medical Tourism

Dr. Parag Sancheti

India has emerged as a hub for medical tourism with advanced diagnostic equipments and excellent infrastructure. India offers world class medical facilities, and has state-of-the-art hospitals and the best qualified doctors. Holding the competitive advantage of cost differentiation as compared to western healthcare centers, patients from other countries visit India for their medical needs. The Ministry of Tourism (MOT), Government of India has enhanced the Medical Visa by extending it to three years from 6 months. Leading healthcare providers are also striving to make India an international health resort, with an airport to airport concept of health tourism.

Private Sector enables more than 70 percent of the healthcare in India:
The rising standard of living and willingness to pay for quality healthcare has led to the emergence of high quality private hospitals with all the facilities available under one roof. Cost of services is also comparatively less. Quality of healthcare has improved and the success rates of Indian healthcare providers is equal to or better than their counterparts in developed countries High end quality medical services at corporate hospitals have positioned India as a preferred destination for medical / surgical care on the global map. In a nutshell, healthcare is poised to take a quantum leap with opportunities a plenty. The right people at the right time with the right resources will emerge as winners.

All is well.

Dr. P.V. Bokil

Principal, PGDHM

Sancheti Hospital, Pune

Every  Indian  citizen has a similar dream about healthcare. With the scientific advances in medical diagnostics and modern technological innovations, such a dream should be a reality.
In last three years ‘HOSPIKON’ conferences have attempted to address the issue so dear to us. The healthcare industry in India has come a long way from the days when availability of medical professionals was under question. Privatization of healthcare industry has revolutionized and brought in change in the aptitude and attitude of healthcare providers.

But today, healthcare industry in India is growing and moving ahead neck to neck with the other major industries like pharmaceuticals & software industry of the country and as a result of significant scientific advancements, a new political landscape and rapidly changing regulatory environment , market demands from employers and consumers, and technology-enabled connectivity, the industry is undergoing a major structural transformation. This transformation is creating opportunities and challenges for traditional health-related sectors to the health sector in India; several foreign companies are intending to invest in the country. Hence, the health care industry in India is reckoned to be the engine of the economy in the years to come.

Health care industry trends manifest an upward growth but several areas need to be attended to for enhancing health care services for the common man. Owing to the vast differences in medical expenses in western countries and that of India, it has become one of the favorites for health care treatments. But in order to meet the international standards, the existing health care industry is required to alter the mode of operation for generation of higher revenue contribution to the GDP of the country. Therefore, hospital Accreditation process has generated tremendous response in the form of I.S.O. or N.A.B.H. or J.C.I accreditations throughout the country. This  is a step in right direction. Thus, TQM and CRM are the key words in the healthcare industry enabling to remain competitive and cost-effective.

Taking a look at the healthcare industry in India, how it has evolved, the innovations that have taken place in the industry, the emerging trends and the opportunities for the future, and how the healthcare providers are endeavoring to provide services to India’s vast and widely spread population, through innovation method, is surely going to be worth a watch.
According to the Mudliyar Committee, approximately, 25,000 hospital manager’s jobs would be created in next five years to service additional 5,00,000 hospital beds in the country.
I hereby welcome you to this booming healthcare industry with great career opportunities, where the Post Graduate Programme in Healthcare Services offered by Sancheti Healthcare Academy provides the right platform to tap these opportunities.