The increase in life expectancy in the country has led to newer health challenges in the community. What are those challenges and what steps need to be taken to meet them ?
Approach · directive: “what / what steps”
What it asks · Identify the health problems that come with longer lives (chronic disease, dementia, disability, mental health, costs) and the steps the State and society must take.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- What: the newer health challenges that follow rising life expectancy — disease, disability, mental and social, system gaps
- What steps: specific measures to meet these challenges
Open with · Longer life is a success, but the added years bring more chronic illness, dependency and care needs unless health systems adapt.
Cover
- Ageing: the share of people aged 60 and above rose to 10.1% in 2021 and is projected at 13.1% by 2031 (MoSPI, Elderly in India 2021).
- Disease burden: rising non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and cancers, plus dementia, arthritis, vision and hearing loss and multiple illnesses together.
- Mind and society: depression, loneliness, neglect and abuse of the elderly, and thinning of joint-family support.
- System gaps: few geriatric specialists and services, high out-of-pocket costs, medicine overuse, weak long-term and palliative care, and inadequate pensions.
- Health steps: primary care and screening at Health and Wellness Centres, the National Programme for Health Care of the Elderly, geriatric wards and home-based care.
- Financing steps: wider health insurance such as Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY, broader pensions and incentives for savings for elder care.
- Social steps: lifestyle prevention and vaccination, community day-care, age-friendly public spaces and enforcement of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007.
Close with · The aim is to add life to years and not only years to life, through prevention, affordable elder care and a supportive community.
Add value (verified)
- MoSPI, Elderly in India 2021: the share of the population aged 60 and above rose from 5.6% in 1961 to 10.1% in 2021 and is likely to reach 13.1% in 2031. Elderly in India 2021 — National Statistical Office, MoSPI ↗“In 1961, 5.6% of the population was in the age bracket of 60 years or more, the proportion has increased to 10.1% in 2021 and further likely to increase to 13.1% in 2031”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2022, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 230 words (UPSC limit 150) · Minimalist IAS
Longer life is a public-health success, but it changes the disease profile: the share of people aged 60 and above reached 10.1% in 2021 and is projected at 13.1% by 2031, and the added years bring more chronic illness and care needs.
Newer health challenges
- Chronic disease: diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and cancers, often several together, replace infections as the main burden.
- Degenerative conditions: dementia, arthritis, vision and hearing loss, falls and disability that need long-term care rather than cure.
- Mind and society: depression, loneliness, neglect and abuse as joint families thin; older women, who live longer, are more often widowed and dependent.
- System gaps: few geriatric specialists, high out-of-pocket costs, medicine overuse, weak palliative care and thin pensions.
Steps needed
- Primary care: screening for chronic disease at Health and Wellness Centres, expansion of the National Programme for Health Care of the Elderly, geriatric wards, and home-based and palliative care.
- Financing: hospital cover under Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY, wider pensions and incentives to save for old-age care.
- Prevention: healthy lifestyles, adult vaccination and early screening to compress the years spent in illness.
- Social support: community day-care, age-friendly public spaces, trained caregivers and enforcement of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007.
The aim is to add life to years and not only years to life, through prevention, affordable elder care and communities that keep the old included.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.