India, the second-most populous nation on earth, is home to more than 1.3 billion people.

Life expectancy reached 67 for males and 70 for females in 2016. The rate of children dying under five has fallen in recent years – in 2018, there were 37 deaths per 1000 live births.

HIV prevalence is low, falling to 0.2 per cent in adults aged 15 – 49 by 2017.

Poverty remains a major concern in India despite some improvement. The United Nations estimated that approximately 27 per cent of the population was living in poverty in 2016.

India has also been one of the countries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health challenges

According to the World Health Organization, the major health challenges facing India include:

• sanitisation and access to clean water.
• non-communicable diseases, especially cardiovascular disease.
• tuberculosis. Approximately 2.1 million new cases were reported in 2018. The total incidence rate in 2018 was 199 cases per 100,000 people.

As of June 10 2020, more than 250,000 people in India were infected by COVID-19, with more than 7,000 deaths recorded. The pandemic continues to worsen, with India recording its highest jump in daily infections to date on June 7, when more than 10,000 new cases were recorded nationwide.