Around 55 per cent people above the age of 60 years suffer from a chronic disease, according to the wave one of the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) released on Wednesday.
According to the report, around 40 per cent have some form of disability and 20 per cent suffer from mental health issues. Also, 27 per cent of this population group, which translates to roughly 35 million people, have multi-morbidities.
The LASI Wave 1 field survey, which was conducted across 35 States and Union Territories from April 2017 to December 2018 was released by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan virtually on Wednesday.
Vardhan said that in the 2011 census report, people above 60 years accounted for 8.6 per cent of India’s population, that is 103 million elderly people. Growing at around 3 per cent annually, the elderly population will rise to 319 million in 2050.