Preventive Healthcare: India's Focus

New Delhi, May 11 (PTI) India needs to proactively focus on prevention in order to be able to solve healthcare problem for its population, Medanta-The Medicity Chairman & Managing Director Naresh Trehan said on Monday.

Globally, the health paradigm is shifting from reactive treatment to proactive prevention, Trehan said, while addressing a session at the CII Annual Business Summit 2026 here.

"That's where the actual solution lies," he added.

He noted that there is no country in the world which has been able to create "an ideal health care system for their entire country", citing examples of even the US and the UK, which have had their own issues.

Turning to India, he said, "We are now at an inflection point where we need to understand that unless we go to this model of proactive prevention, we will never be able to solve the healthcare problem of 1.5 billion (people)." India has the scale, talent and the mandate to seize the opportunity in the shifting global health paradigm, which is moving from system-led to consumer empowered, and from access alone to access plus excellence.


Trehan said while the global consumer wellness market stood at USD 1.8 trillion in 2024, India's preventive healthcare market is projected to be USD 500 billion by 2030.

Acknowledging that providing healthcare to "the population of 1.5 billion is not an easy task", Trehan said, "but it is also an opportunity, because we have that human capital... that God gave us (Indians) the best brain in the world."

Speaking at the session, Panacea Biotech CMD, Rajesh Jain said, "25 years from now, I clearly see that India moves from pharmacy of the world to preventive capital of the world, where the world's largest, scalable, innovative vaccines are being produced."

Citing India's demographic dividend could be an opportunity for adult vaccination, he said, "We are having that complete consumption in India that can actually be a learning ground for the whole world."

Former Member (Health), NITI Aayog, V K Paul, highlighted the need for universal health coverage, which is "unfolding successfully" with a reduction in out-of-pocket expenses.

"In this regard, we expect the private insurance to cover many more people...," he said, adding there was a need for "affordable, effective, reliable, trustworthy, insurance system".