India has a daunting challenge of reaching quality health care to every household in a country of over a billion people living in over 700,000 cities, towns, villages and hamlets. The country boasts of some of the finest hospitals in the region, cutting-edge research facilities, pharma companies which also export their products to other countries. Indian doctors are known for their expertise and commitment to their chosen vocation.

The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) is one of the flagship initiatives of the government. Over the last three years of implementation, the NRHM has brought about comprehensive rejuvenation of the public health system in the country.

Since the implementation of NRHM, the health system in this vast country has become more decentralised, more efficient and more responsive to the needs of the citizens.

Substantively higher funding for the health sector by the Government of India and commensurate response by various state governments has ensured that the allocation for health in the public domain keeps up with the expanding economy, and remains on course for reaching two to three per cent of the Gross Domestic Product by 2012.

The Integrated Disease Surveillance Project launched in 2004 with the objective to detect early and respond to warning signals of disease outbreaks has established an IT network in 317 of the 400 sites with the help of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) connecting all States, District HQ and Government medical colleges and certain national institutions involved in disease surveillance and response.

Prevention and control of vector borne diseases such as Malaria, Filaria, Kala-azar, Japanese Encephalitis, Dengue & Chikungunya have a direct link with the economic and social development of the community. Malaria incidence in the country was brought down from 6.4 million cases in 1976 to 1.86 million cases in 2003. Since then it has been kept below 2 million cases.

Kala-azar and Lymphatic Filariasis have been targeted for elimination by 2010 and 2015 respectively and the goal of elimination must be achieved to make our country free from these diseases affecting the health of a large number of population. The viral diseases like Japanese Encephalitis, Dengue and newly re-emerged disease Chikungunya require more attention on awareness generation for prevention and control of mosquitogenic conditions.

Tuberculosis is a major public health problem in India. About 325,000 persons die of TB every year in the country. The Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP), using Directly

Observed Treatment Shortcourse (DOTS) strategy, with the objective of curing at least 85 percent of new sputum patients put on treatment and detecting at least 70 percent of such patients is being implemented in the country in a phased manner from 1997, and the entire country has been covered by March 2006. The prevalence of multi-drug resistant TB is approximately 3 percent among new cases and about 12-17 percent among non-treatment cases. The programme is in the process of establishing a network of 27 accredited Culture and Drug Susceptibility testing Intermediate Reference Laboratories (IRL) across the country in a phased manner for diagnosis and followup of MDR TB patients.

Cancer is a major public health concern in India and has become one of the ten leading causes of death in the country. It is estimated that there are about 2.5 million cases of cancer at any particular point of time, with 8 to 9 lakh new cases being detected every year. About 4 lakh deaths occur annually in the country due to cancer. The burden of cancer is expected to further increase due to increase in life expectancy, demographic transitions and the effects of tobacco and other risk factors. With a total outlay of Rs. 24 billion, the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) is proposed to be modified to meet the gap in available cancer care facilities and trained manpower in the country.

A National Cancer Institute with the objective of basic, clinical, experimental and applied research in the field of oncology and related areas at a cost of Rs. 8.5 billion is being planned at Egmore, Chennai.

Tobacco is the single most preventable cause of death in the country. The government launched the Pilot Phase of the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) was launched in 2007 in 9 States and 18 Districts. NTCP also aims at ensuring enforcement of Anti Tobacco Laws and to bring about greater awareness of the harmful and ill effects of tobacco consumption. The Government has revised the smoke free law with effect from 2nd October, 2008. The new rules prohibit smoking in public places.

An ‘Integrated Vaccine Complex’ (IVC) of international standard in the public sector to make safe and effective vaccines available at affordable prices is also proposed to be set-up.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has engaged Hindustan Latex Limited (HLL), a public sector enterprise under the Ministry, to set up a state of art Integrated Vaccine Complex on top priority for both UIP and non UIP vaccines at Chengalpattu, near Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

HIV/AIDS – As per the recent estimates using the internationally comparable Workbook method and using multiple data sources, there are 1.8 – 2.9 million (2.31 million) people living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2007. The estimated adult prevalence in the country is 0.34% (0.25%) - (0.43%) and it is greater among males (0.44%) than among females (0.23%).

Government plans to halt and reverse the epidemic in India over the next 5 years. Highest priority is being given to preventive efforts while, at the same time, seeking to integrate prevention with care, support and treatment.

Medical Tourism: The Indian healthcare market is $30 billion and growing at over 30 percent every year. Indian private and government hospitals are increasingly finding a mention in the travel itineraries of foreigner travelers, with the trend of medical tourism catching up in the country.

Over 150,000 medical tourists travelled to India in 2002 alone, bringing in earnings of $300 million. Since then, the number of such travellers has been increasing by at least 25 percent every year. A Confederation of Indian Industry-McKinsey report projects that earnings through medical tourism would go up to $2 billion by 2012.

A Planning Commission report said that while a heart bypass surgery would cost a patient $6,000 in India, the same surgery would cost the person nearly $8,000 in Thailand, $10,000 in Singapore, $24,000 in the US and $20,000 in Britain. Compared to countries like the UK or the US, procedures like heart bypass surgery or angioplasty come at a fraction of the cost in India.

India also offers other therapeutic medical tourism like ayurveda also.

Apart from the premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences, some of the private hospitals like Apollo hospitals in Delhi and Chennai, and other world-class private hospitals are drawing patients from U.S.,Britain, Middle East and Europe.

Besides lower costs, Indian hospitals offer global facilities, latest medical technologies administered by Indian doctors and nurses with high degree of proficiency, and comparable to the best in the world.

India has attached high priority to education to not only enable the country meet the new challenges of the knowledge-based economy of this century, but also derive the maximum benefit for its citizens that normally accrues as the result of a fully literate and educated society.

Accordingly, an ambitious plan has been drawn for revamping the country's education system and towards capacity building during the ongoing Five Year Plan (2007-12) that will see a five-fold increase in the central government's spending toward the sector, equalling six percent of India's $1.2 trillion economy.

India's Constitution already provides for free and compulsory education to all children aged 6-14 years, and even makes it incumbent on the state to provide for the same with necessary legislation. In fact, the recent Global Monitoring Report of UNESCO says India is among 28 countries that have a relatively higher chance of achieving the universal primary education enrolment target by 2015, under the UN-set Millennium Development Goals.

Towards this end, the government's flagship programme for universal elementary education since 2001-02 has been the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. The programme is being implemented in partnership with state governments to address the needs of 192 million children in 1.1 million habitations. In a time-bound manner, it seeks to provide complete access to elementary education, with quality and equity, as also extend enough incentives to ensure retention of students.

Another major and unique programme is the National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education, popularly called the mid-day meal scheme. This seeks to extend incentives so that children not only pursue studies but also given adequate nutrition by the state. This scheme is the largest in the world today for primary education. It started in 1995 on India's Independence Day (Aug 15), and today covers 119.7 million children in 1.28 million schools across the country.

Realising that India will soon have the largest pool of young working population in the world, the government has also attached a high priority to higher education. A go ahead has been given for the establishment of colleges in 374 out of the country's 600-plus districts. As many as 30 new central universities have also been proposed, with added emphasis on states that do not have such institutions.

Some of the other initiatives include five new Indian Institutes of Science (IISCs) at Kolkata, Pune, Mohali, Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram, in addition to the one in Bangalore.

Six new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have also been approved in addition to the existing seven that have earned worldwide repute for the quality of professionals they have been able to produce over the decades. These six - some of which started the academic sessions this year - are in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Gujarat and Punjab.

One more Indian Institute of Management (IIM), called the Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management (RGIIM), has been set up at Shillong in Meghalaya, in addition to those at Bangalore, Lucknow, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Kozhikode and Indore. Two new Schools of Planning and Architecture have been set up at Bhopal and Vijayawada, in addition to the one in New Delhi.