With a population of 1.35 billion people, India is in a leading position considering many aspects. Availability of the workforce is higher as the population is huge and thus India also counts up to the 5th largest economy in the World in terms of GDP. With a huge population and limited supply of resources, how is the life expectancy in this country? Do people live longer or are sudden deaths a possibility? We look at this issue in this article. Life Expectancy refers to the number of years a person is expected to live. Life expectancy is calculated at the time of a person’s birth. With the existence of Yoga, Ayurveda, and Homeopathy, the world would expect a higher life expectancy for the people in India. However, the statistics say the exact opposite. The life expectancy in India is much lower than that of the developed countries or the developing ones. 65.07% of the Indian population lives in rural areas where medical facilities are not up to date and the cost of living is also less. Many people suff er from diseases whose treatment is costly and they cannot afford it. The infant mortality rate is seven times higher than in the US and three times higher than in China. Due to this huge number of deaths in the early years of life, the Life Expectancy rate reduces drastically. The entire medical system of the country is referred to be on “life support” as the infrastructure, doctors, staff , and amenities are in no proportion to the population of the country. The rate of female infanticide is high in India and thus life expectancy for females is low at the start of life. The life expectancy at the start of 2019 was 69.5 years for men and 72 years for women. The reason is, the masculine body is more prone to diseases and mortality than the feminine body. Thus women tend to live longer. Life Expectancy in India has almost doubled from 1950 to 2020. Th e reason is the improvement in medical facilities and new inventions in the fi eld of pharmaceuticals. Th e infant mortality rate has dropped down by 90% since 1950. Due to the Covid19 pandemic, the life expectancy for men dropped down from 69.5 to 67.5 years and for women, it came down from 72 to 69.8 years. The density of physicians per 1000 people is as low as 0.702 in India. During the pandemic, India had only 5 beds per 10,000 people which is a horrible ratio. Surviving in a country like India is a bit diffi cult for some people due to the huge population, unemployment, crime rates, inflation, and many such factors. Even Bangladesh has a higher life expectancy of 72.6 as compared to India. Hopefully, the life expectancy would increase in the next few years with the advancement of technology and the development of healthcare systems.
10 Jan 2022
Atharva Agashe
