Does India have enough health professionals to care for its rising senior population?

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Modi highlighted the growing importance of the care economy – a rising demand for caregivers globally and an opportunity to train and skill young people to meet this demand. India stands at a unique position here – despite having the largest youth population in the world, it is also a rapidly ageing country. Estimates indicate that by 2050, we will have over 300 million people aged over 60. With this, will come an increasing number of medical conditions related to old age. The question now is, do we have the health and care resources to cater to these growing population segment? Do we have enough geriatricians? Does our medical curriculum focus enough on geriatric medicine? Do we have adequate community care-based systems to take care of our senior citizens? Guest: Dr Arvind Kasthuri, Head of Unit, St John's Geriatric Centre and Professor, Department of Community Health, St John's Medical College, Bengaluru Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices