Roots · स्वास्थ्य Health and happiness
Add life to years, not only years to life.
The business of happiness starts with a body that works and a mind at ease. India is adding years to life faster than it is adding life to years. The cheapest hospital is the one you never need.
Seven positions, stated plainly.
Prevention over hospitals.
Food, movement and sleep decide most of what hospitals later treat. Unhealthy diets account for over half of India’s disease burden, and half of adults do not move enough.
Make longevity science India’s, not only the West’s.
An Indian lives about 58 healthy years. The science of adding healthy years must reach Indians at Indian prices, as generic semaglutide began to in 2026.
Measure happiness alongside GDP.
India ranks 116th of 147 in the World Happiness Report. More than eight in ten people with a mental disorder get no treatment. What we do not measure we do not fix.
Care for all.
Ayushman Bharat now covers over 60 crore people. Families still pay 43% of health costs out of their own pockets.
Fund mental health as core public health.
The treatment gap is 84.5%. Tele-MANAS has taken 47.75 lakh calls since 2022, which shows the demand is already there.
Affordable metabolic medicine, alongside lifestyle change.
101 million Indians have diabetes and 254 million have general obesity. Semaglutide cut major heart events by about 20% in trials and generics reached India in 2026. Medicine works best when food and movement change with it.
Prepare for an older India.
347 million Indians will be over 60 by 2050 and two in three over 60 already live with a chronic condition. The aim is healthy years, not only more years.
India’s health in eight numbers.
- 58.1 Healthy years an Indian can expect: WHO, 2021.
- ~63% Deaths from non-communicable disease: Heart disease alone about 31%.
- 101 m Indians with diabetes: 136 million more prediabetic.
- 315 m With high blood pressure: 35.5% of adults.
- 116 / 147 World Happiness Report rank: 2026. Up from 126th in 2024.
- 43.4% Health spending paid out of pocket: 2022-23. 64% in 2013-14.
- 60 cr+ People covered by Ayushman Bharat: Including everyone over 70 since Oct 2024.
- 84.5% Mental health treatment gap: NMHS 2015-16.
Sources: WHO; ICMR–INDIAB 2023; WHO India via The Wire; World Happiness Report 2026; National Health Accounts 2022-23; NHA Open, Sep 2026; NMHS 2015-16; Tele-MANAS.