BEYOND THE CITY LIMITS: HOW RURAL HEALTHCARE WILL MOVE FROM SURVIVAL TO HEALING

As long as healthcare continues to be a cost issue in India, mass-scale value-based care will always remain a distant dream

- By Nehal Gautam

India has two health systems living side by side. In cities, cancer is no longer a death sentence. With genomics, robotic machines, and teams of super-specialists, many patients now live long, normal lives. In villages and small towns - where 65 out of every 100 Indians live - the same cancer is still discovered late, treated poorly, and wipes out entire families. Why? Because we keep arguing only about "cost." Private hospitals are told to treat everyone at rock-bottom prices. The result: no one can afford to build good hospitals outside big cities, and doctors don't want to move to places with broken equipment and no career growth.

Dr B. S. Ajaikumar, one of India's most experienced cancer specialists, Founder and Chairman, HealthCare Global Enterprises, says this thinking is the real roadblock.

Dr Ajaikumar also calls out what no one wants to say openly: many government hospitals themselves deliver poor service, long waits, and rude behaviour - pushing people toward quacks. Real change needs government and private players to work together with clear targets, fair payment rates under schemes like Ayushman Bharat, tax breaks, and actual seats for private experts when policies are made.

The goal by 2030 is simple and measurable: no mother or child should die for want of basic care, every village child should get vaccines on time, cancer should be caught early everywhere, and no family should sell land to pay hospital bills.

In short: rural healthcare doesn't need more empty promises. It needs a business model that makes money while saving lives - and the courage to put quality before cheap slogans. Dr Ajaikumar's message is clear: if we get this right, India can finally deliver good healthcare to every last village - profitably and proudly.

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