February 27, 2026
In his Hindustan Times column, Vital Signs, OHT’s Dr. Ramanan Laxminarayan writes that India’s next development frontier is healthy ageing. While the country has made major progress in reducing child deaths, gains in life expectancy after age 65 have been modest. Today, a 65-year-old in India can expect to live about 14 more years, fewer than peers in China or Vietnam.
He explains that healthy ageing begins early in life. Poor nutrition during pregnancy and childhood increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes decades later. Preventing these conditions is far more effective and affordable than treating them in old age.
Dr. Laxminarayan calls for stronger pensions, flexible savings systems for informal workers, and better long-term care financing. He argues that improving life expectancy at 65 should be a national goal, because true development means enabling people to age with health, independence, and dignity. “A nation becomes developed not when its aggregate GDP is greater, but when it makes ageing with health and dignity possible for all citizens.”
Read here.
