In Focus by The Hindu Does India have enough health professionals to care for its rising senior population?
Mar 28, 2026
Dr Arvind Kasthuri, head of St John’s Geriatric Centre and professor of community health, speaks on India’s fast‑ageing population and looming care needs. He discusses shortages of geriatric specialists, gaps in medical training, the pyramid of older‑person needs, weak community and public health systems, adult immunization, mental health, social isolation, and scaling trained caregivers.
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Geriatrician Shortage Versus Systemic Care Needs
- India likely has only 300–450 practicing geriatricians while need would be in the tens of thousands given projected 300+ million aged 60+ by 2050.
- Geriatrics is not a standalone undergraduate subject so most older-person care must be distributed across primary care, nurses, physiotherapists and community services.
Pyramid Model Of Older Person Care
- Care for older people is a pyramid: broad base of social needs, middle of chronic disease management by primary care, and a narrow apex of specialist geriatric hospital care.
- The largest workforce required is community/home-based support and family caregivers, not only geriatricians.
Train Midlevel Clinicians With Short Geriatric Courses
- Strengthen midlevel workforce with short courses so primary care doctors, nurses and physiotherapists can manage common geriatric issues like hypertension and diabetes.
- Use brief targeted training to widen capacity rather than relying solely on producing more geriatricians.