Healthy life expectancy in the context of population health and ageing in India

This study examines life expectancy (LE) and healthy life expectancy (HLE) in India longitudinally over the period 2007 to 2020, providing projections into the future. Specifically, the Indian Healthy Life Expectancy Projection model was developed based on epidemiological data (mortality, disability rates) obtained from the World Health Organization and the Government of India. The current model contributed to 4 key findings: decreases in mortality but not in all age and gender groups; increasing disability in the Indian population over time; increase in LE and HLE into the future in all age and gender groups; and the largest gains in LE and HLE are in the older age bands starting from the 70+ age band in women and 65+ age band in men. This study sheds some light on the population health measures needed to improve the understanding of the determinants of health for the efficient allocation of resources and to inform policy in the planning of health and social services. © 2012 Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health.