COVID'S HEALTHCARE SHIFT

TECHNOLOGY GOES MAINSTREAM, BRICK-AND-MORTAR EXPANDS, AND AMBITIOUS GOVERNMENT PROGRAMMES BENEFIT MEDICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.

- By P.B. Jayakumar

SINCE JANUARY 30, 2020, when India reported its first case of Covid-19, in Thrissur, Kerala, the country has had 45,055,912 confirmed cases, the second-highest in the world after the United States, and 5,33,834 deaths after the U.S. and Brazil, according to the WHO Covid-19 dashboard (August 20). India, which launched a massive vaccination programme in January 2021, reported 162 active cases and 157 deaths in 2025 (as of August 20).

But Covid-19 continues to scare us: on July 2, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah wondered aloud if the vaccines were behind the deaths of 23 people by heart attacks within 40 days in Hassan. The Union government countered by citing complementary studies by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) that did not find any “direct link” between Covid vaccinations and sudden deaths.

The pandemic is no longer a major concern; what is scary are the findings of two recent studies on the overall health of Indians. The Health of the Nation 2025 study by the Apollo Group, India’s largest private hospital chain, revealed a silent epidemic of undiagnosed chronic diseases. Millions are affected without visible symptoms, and the diseases often show up during health checkups at hospitals. Apollo, which operates 72 hospitals, analysed data from its de-identified electronic medical records, which included preventive health checkups and studies.

For example, about 26% discovered they had hypertension, and 23% were found to be diabetic. Fatty liver disease, postmenopausal health decline, and childhood obesity are rising alarmingly. An estimated 5.8 million Indians die from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) each year. One in four Indians faces the risk of dying from an NCD before reaching the age of 70, a trend that has accelerated after Covid-19.