India’s healthcare sits at a crossroads—rich in tech innovation but starved of system-wide investment. Coverage is growing, but care still lags. Can we fix systems, not just symptoms?
Like so many other things, India is not short on ambition when it comes to healthcare. We want it all: access, affordability, and AI-powered diagnostics. But here’s the thing—wanting and doing are two very different things. And the future of medicine in India? It’s stuck somewhere in between.
“We’ve come a long way – from scepticism to optimism,” said Dr. K Madan Gopal, advisor to the National Health System Resource Centre. “A decade ago, talking about Rs 5 lakh health insurance coverage for every citizen felt like wishful thinking. Today, it’s a reality. The intent to provide adequate coverage is being met,” he pointed out, noting that fewer than 1% of claims exceed that amount.
But then came the uncomfortable pause—coverage is not care. India still lacks the robust insurance-healthcare-institution ecosystem that defines much of the West.
The real transformation, he noted, is happening on the tech front—biosensors, biomarkers, diagnostics that can flag a condition before symptoms even show up. “There was a time we relied on fetoscopes. Now, students don’t even use them. If a topper knows how to use one, that’s commendable,” he said at the FE Healthcare Summit held in New Delhi.
Innovation fatigue or funding famine?
Dr. Ajay Shukla, orthopaedics professor at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences, said the real issue is investment in R&D, particularly in areas like traumatology and rehabilitation. “Funding in this area needs a dramatic shift. Whether it’s private or government-backed, it’s not enough,” he argued.
“Yes, R&D is expensive and doesn’t always guarantee returns. But that’s the nature of innovation—you might invest in ten ideas and only one takes off,” he explained. “Still, that one breakthrough can not only offset the cost of the other nine, but also generate enough to reinvest further. We need a long-term view, not just a profit-driven one.”
The cancer conundrum
Given India’s dual disease burden—rising non-communicable diseases and the persistent threat of communicable ones—Dr. Jaideep A Gogtay, Global Chief Medical Officer at Cipla, emphasised the need for nuanced priority-setting.
“Primary care remains critical and well-covered, but one growing area of concern is cancer. We’re seeing over a million new cases annually, many among younger individuals, and with improved treatments, we now also have a growing population of survivors,” he said. “That means we’ll increasingly have to focus on managing relapses—second, third, and beyond.”
From a research standpoint, he noted, “Cancer must be a clear priority. Some government labs are already doing excellent work, and there’s potential for meaningful collaboration with the private sector. But for this to scale, we need to build trust between institutions and ensure robust intellectual property systems.”
And yet, he returned to the basics: “Whether it’s through better nutrition, vaccines, or lifestyle interventions, we must focus on keeping people from falling sick in the first place.”
And what about women?
“In gynecology and reproductive health, our research priorities must go beyond just technology—they need to center around the individual,” said Dr. S N Basu, Principal Director & Head, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at Max Hospital. “Every service, intervention, or procedure should begin with the understanding that there’s a human being at the other end.”
She stressed the importance of preventive care—“improving health literacy, building capacity for early counselling, and ensuring correct information reaches women at the right time.”
She also highlighted the need for investment in pre-conception counselling and AI-backed screening tools. “That said, no matter how advanced the technology, its impact depends on the human behind it,” she added. “We must ensure that technology complements—not replaces—the critical thinking and compassion that healthcare demands.”
So, where does this leave us?
Somewhere between innovation and inertia. India has the ideas. It even has the tools. What it lacks is the connective tissue—the investment, the trust, the system-wide alignment. The big promise isn’t that AI will cure cancer or that biosensors will catch every disease early. The promise is that we might finally stop treating symptoms and start treating systems.
And that, if we get it right, would be revolutionary.
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