E-Paper
Health is the real engine of Viksit Bharat
This article is authored by Shobana Kamineni, promoter director, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd and executive chairperson, Apollo Healthco.
India’s development ambitions are often framed through GDP growth and infrastructure milestones. Yet, more often than not, progress is shaped not just by what we build, but by who builds it. The vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 will depend as much on how effectively India manages its demographic dividend as on any policy or investment decision.
India today faces a health challenge of both worlds. On one end, it continues to battle communicable diseases; on the other, it is witnessing a rapid rise in lifestyle-related conditions typically associated with developed economies. What will matter is how effectively we ensure that a one-billion-strong workforce remains healthy, resilient, and able to perform at its full potential. Here is how India can begin to make that shift.
India’s health care system has traditionally focused on treating disease after its onset. However, as India enters a decisive phase of demographic transition, this approach must evolve--from treating illness to preserving health.
Universal preventive health check-ups, particularly for the working-age population, offer a practical starting point. The government is already driving the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases at a large scale.
Making health screening universal, and mandatory wherever appropriate, will result in early detection, risk awareness and timely action.
You cannot improve what you do not measure. Tracking health status over time will lay the foundation of prevention, productivity and longevity.
Health check-ups alone are not enough. The real value emerges when this health data generated is stored, structured and converted into portable digital health records - owned by individuals and shared with consent.
These longitudinal, interoperable health records can ensure continuity of care across providers, geographies and life stages. When layered with analytics and AI, these health records can support customised early-stage interventions based on individual risk profiles, improving preventive outcomes at scale.
The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission has laid these foundational digital rails. With over 83 crore ABHA IDs issued, India is building one of the world’s largest longitudinal health data ecosystems.
Our UPI-style framework for health has the potential to improve care continuity, system efficiency, and clinical decision-making. The priority now is wider adoption and deeper integration across the health care ecosystem.
India has already shown the world what digital public infrastructure can achieve through UPI. A similar, scalable, prevention-first health stack--combining mandatory screening, structured health data, and AI-driven insights - could become India’s next major global export.
The coming Budget provides an opportunity to move prevention from the margins to the mainstream by strengthening early care, accelerating digital health integration, and rewarding long-term wellness outcomes.
A truly Viksit Bharat will not be defined by how much illness it treats, but by how effectively it keeps its people healthy, productive, and resilient across their lifetimes.
This article is authored by Shobana Kamineni, promoter director, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd and executive chairperson, Apollo Healthco.
