Page 49 - GHES-3-2

Global Health Economics and
Sustainability

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Assessing the adequacy of health facilities for

the aging population in Indian cities

A.H. Sruthi Anil Kumar * , Nawaj Sarif 2 , and Papai Barman 1
1
1 Department of Family and Generations, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai,
Maharashtra, India
2 Department of Migration and Urban Studies, International Institute for Population Sciences,
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Abstract
India, a developing country and currently the most populous nation, has been
experiencing a rapid and unpredictable increase in the proportion of its older
population. The healthcare system is already struggling to meet the needs of the
current population, and the rising number of older adults is expected to further
strain resources. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the distribution of the
older population in Indian cities and their access to advanced health facilities. The
study uses data from Census of India, 2011, which is the latest census data available.
A Health Facilities Index was developed to assess the availability of health facilities,
and a geospatial approach was adopted to determine aging patterns and access to
Academic editor: health facilities across cities. Despite similar aging trends, health infrastructure was
Mihajlo Jakovljevic M.D. Ph.D. MAE unevenly distributed across cities. The study revealed that advanced health facilities
*Corresponding author: were concentrated in specific areas, primarily metropolitan cities, whereas smaller
A.H. Sruthi Anil Kumar cities lacked adequate health facilities and accessibility. Therefore, improving health
(shrutz91@gmail.com)
infrastructure in smaller cities to match that in larger ones should be prioritized.
Citation: Kumar, A.H.S.A., Sarif, N., The findings highlight a notable infrastructure gap in Indian cities, which presents a
& Barman, P. (2025). Assessing the
adequacy of health facilities for the significant challenge to achieving healthy aging in the country.
aging population in Indian cities.
Global Health Econ Sustain,
3(2):41-51. Keywords: Population aging; Aging cities; Healthcare infrastructure; Health-care facilities
https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.3993
Received: June 20, 2024
Revised: July 31, 2024 1. Introduction
Accepted: August 16, 2024
Rapid reductions in fertility and mortality rates have led to global population aging
Published online: October 3, 2024 (United Nations, 2019; 2022). Population aging refers to the increasing proportion of
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). older persons, internationally defined as those aged 65 and above and defined in India
This is an Open-Access article as those aged 60 and above. The lower age threshold in India corresponds with the
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution country’s traditionally lower life expectancy at birth. Globally, the total fertility rate
License, permitting distribution, (TFR) declined from 5.0 in 1950 – 1955 to 2.3 in 2021; this rate is projected to further
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is decline to 2.1 by 2050 (United Nations, 2022). At the same time, life expectancy at
properly cited. birth has increased from 47 years in 1950 – 1955 to 72.8 years in 2019, an increase of
Publisher’s Note: AccScience 25.8 years. It is expected to reach 77.2 years by 2050. This combination of decreasing
Publishing remains neutral with fertility and increasing life expectancy has produced a demographic dividend and
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional also accelerated population aging globally (United Nations, 2019; 2022). However,
affiliations. intercountry variations in the pace of fertility and mortality decline have resulted in

Volume 3 Issue 2 (2025) 41 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.3993