Page 53 - GHES-3-2

Global Health Economics and
Sustainability
Aging and health facilities in Indian cities

A B

C

Figure 2. Share of older population aged 60 years and above in 2001, 2011, and 2021 (predicted) computed by authors using data from Census of India,
2001 and 2011
Note: (A) Older population share in 2001, (B) older population share in 2011, and (C) predicted older population share in 2021.
Pradesh, and Rajasthan, form a cold spot. The share of the older population, they have better health facilities. In
the older population in central India shows no significant contrast, smaller cities have fewer health facilities although
clustering and is thus statistically insignificant. their share of the older population is higher.

3.2. Aging and health facilities in Indian cities The share of the older population and the availability
of health facilities vary among cities with different civic
Health facilities in Indian cities are primarily associated statuses (Table 4). Municipal Corporations stand out
with population size. Figure 4 illustrates that cities with
larger populations have more and better health facilities, for having better health facilities despite an 8% share of
whereas cities with smaller populations tend to have fewer the older population. In contrast, census towns, nagar
advanced health facilities. This trend is evident across the panchayats, and municipal councils show low HFI scores
data. despite having a considerable proportion of the older
population. Notably, municipalities have the highest share
There is a gap between the proportion of the older of older adults (9.3%), yet their HFI score remains very low
population and health facilities across Class I cities of (0.01).
different sizes. Table 4 shows that while the share of the
older population is relatively similar across cities of different Figure 5 highlights the insufficiency of health facilities
sizes, health facilities are unevenly distributed. Although with respect to population aging in Indian cities. It
the million-plus cities have a slightly lower percentage of is evident that only a few major cities, such as Jaipur,

Volume 3 Issue 2 (2025) 45 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.3993