The Hindu Business Line : Healthcare spending could contribute 6% of GDP by 2012: Study

The healthcare spending in the country could contribute 6.05 per cent of the GDP and employ around 90 lakh people in 2012, according to a FICCI-Ernst & Young analysis of the healthcare industry.

Revenues generated by private hospitals are likely to increase to Rs 1,61,440 crore by 2012 from the current level of around Rs 71,300 crore, growing annually at a CAGR of about 15 per cent, shortening the break-even periods for the hospital from five years to four years, according to the analysis.

The health insurance sector will grow to Rs 17,100 crore in collected premium by 2012 as compared to Rs 3,199 crore. Medical equipment industry, pegged at Rs 9,790 crore in 2006, will reach Rs 22,396 crore by 2012, growing at the rate of 15 per cent per year, according to the analysis.

Medical textiles shall double to Rs 3,388 crore by 2012 from the current Rs 1,822 crore. Medical Value Travel, popularly known as medical tourism, is poised to grow at 22 per cent annually. The estimated value of the industry will reach Rs 6,678 crore by 2012 from its current size of Rs 2,025 crore, according to the analysis.

But even as business opportunities open up in a range of areas in health insurance, medical equipment and travel sectors, the healthcare industry is up against a shortfall of 45,000 doctors by 2012 and 3,50,000 nurses just for primary and secondary care by 2015, according to the analysis.

The analysis notes that apart from the acute shortage of medical personnel, what is worrisome is the deterioration in the quality of healthcare professionals in the country. This needs to be arrested immediately by strengthening of supervision and establishing quality standards in teaching, according to the analysis.

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