Latest news with #LMIC
New Indian Express
01-07-2025
- Health
- New Indian Express
‘Lonely in world': 100 deaths every hour, says WHO
NEW DELHI: One in six people worldwide is affected byloneliness, which is linked to an estimated 100 deaths every hour - more than 8,71,000 deaths annually, said a WHO report released Monday. The World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on Social Connection in its global report said that strong social connections can lead to better health and longer life. Loneliness affects people of all ages, especially youth and people living in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). While data on social isolation is more limited, it is estimated to affect up to 1 in 3 older adults and 1 in 4 adolescents. Between 17 per cent and 21 per cent of people aged 13–29 years reported feeling lonely, with the highest rates among teenagers. About 24 per cenr of people in low-income countries reported feeling lonely—twice the rate in high-income countries (about 11per cent). Some groups, such as people with disabilities, refugees or migrants, LGBTQ+ individuals, and indigenous groups and ethnic minorities, may face discrimination or additional barriers that make social connection harder, the report.
Time of India
25-06-2025
- Health
- Time of India
No Family Doctors, No Continuity of Care: Dr. Paul Flags Dangerous Gap in India's Healthcare System
New Delhi: In a bold call for transformation, Dr. V. K. Paul , Member (Health), NITI Aayog , outlined a sweeping blueprint to revamp India's medical education system, stating that the country must train not just for adequacy but for ambition, as part of its journey toward becoming a developed nation. Speaking at a policy dialogue hosted by the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP), Dr. Paul addressed critical issues of medical manpower, quality of postgraduate training, and structural reforms needed to match the healthcare needs of 2040 and beyond. 'We must shed the illusion that we're anywhere close to sufficient,' Dr. Paul said. 'A ratio of one doctor per 1,000, the WHO norm, may suffice for low-income nations. For India, aiming to be a global leader, we need three per 1,000—this must be our goalpost by 2040.' India's Specialist Shortage is 'Alarming' Citing data on specialist shortfalls, Dr. Paul painted a sobering picture stating that the current rate of producing 5,500 general surgeons per year, India will take 34 years to match the average for lower-middle-income countries and 69 years to meet high-income benchmarks. For psychiatrists, the country has 0.7 per 100,000 people, compared to the LMIC average of 2, and would require 23 years to close the gap. For cardiologists, India lags drastically—with projections of an 82-year wait to meet international standards. 'This is not just a workforce issue; it's an issue of national health resilience,' he said. Dr. Paul called for an overhaul of the MBBS curriculum to better prepare graduates for real-world care. He stressed the need for deeper exposure to internal medicine, geriatrics, psychiatry, and chronic disease management—areas that often receive less than four weeks of training under the current system. 'Our internship structure is broken. How can a student become proficient in schizophrenia or diabetes management with three weeks of exposure?' he asked. 'In high-income countries, becoming a family physician takes 10 years. We try to compress all that into five and a half.' Urgent Need to Mainstream Family and Emergency Medicine Perhaps the most impassioned part of Dr. Paul's address was his plea to mainstream Family Medicine—a specialty largely ignored in Indian medical training. 'If we continue on our current path, by 2035 we will be a country with only specialists and barely any generalists,' he warned. 'That's a broken healthcare model. Family physicians are critical for managing chronic diseases, elderly care, mental health, and ensuring continuity of care.' Despite national policy backing and global best practices, India has less than 100 Family Medicine postgraduate seats. Dr. Paul urged the National Medical Commission (NMC) to urgently expand these, including adopting the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) model, where Family Medicine training is delivered without needing a standalone department. He also highlighted the neglect of Emergency Medicine, which he called 'the face of healthcare' and critical for equitable access. 'Emergency departments in most medical colleges are grossly underdeveloped. A single resident, 30 patients, and no consultant oversight—that's the reality today,' he said, advocating mandatory emergency medicine departments in new colleges. Dr. Paul urged policymakers to view health not as a cost but as a driver of economic development. 'Healthy people drive innovation, productivity, and growth. The healthcare workforce must be seen as a core part of India's human capital strategy,' he said. He concluded with a call for collaboration across ministries, private sector participation, and a shift in mindset: ' Medical education reform is no longer optional. It is foundational to India's ambition to become a developed, equitable nation.'
The Print
08-06-2025
- Business
- The Print
Extreme poverty in India down to 5.3 pc in 2022-23: World Bank
As against 34 crore people below poverty line (USD 3/per day) in 2011-12, the numbers have come down to 7.5 crore in 2022-23 in absolute numbers. Given India's inflation rate between 2017 and 2021, a revised extreme poverty line of USD 3 would constitute a 15 per cent higher threshold than USD 2.15 expressed in 2021 prices and result in a 5.3 per cent poverty rate in 2022-23, the World Bank said in a report. New Delhi, Jun 7 (PTI) India's extreme poverty rate declined sharply to 5.3 per cent over a decade from 27.1 per cent in 2011-12 even as the World Bank revised upwards its threshold poverty line to USD 3 per day. The World Bank has announced a major revision to global poverty estimates, raising the International Poverty Line (IPL) from USD 2.15/day (2017 PPP) to USD 3/day (2021 PPP), according to a factsheet issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) on the report. 'While the change led to a global increase in the count of extreme poverty by 125 million, India emerged as a statistical outlier in a positive direction. Using more refined data and updated survey methods, India not only withstood the raised threshold but also demonstrated a massive reduction in poverty,' PIB said in its factsheet details issued on Saturday. The new poverty line would have increased the count of global extreme poverty by 226 million people. But thanks to India's data revision, the net global increase was only 125 million, as India's revised data reduced the count by 125 million on its own, it said. In India, the World Bank report said, 54,695,832 people lived on less than USD 3 per day in 2024. Thus, the poverty rate at USD 3 per day (2021 PPP — percentage population) is 5.44 per cent in 2024. The extreme poverty rate decreased from 16.2 to 2.3 per cent between 2011-12 and 2022-23, while the poverty rate at the lower middle income country (LMIC) line declined by 33.7 percentage points, it said. Free and subsidised food transfers supported poverty reduction, and the rural-urban poverty gap narrowed. The five most populous states account for 54 per cent of the extremely poor, it said. With regard to economy, the report said, real GDP of India was around 5 per cent below the pre-pandemic trend level as of FY25. Growth should gradually converge back to potential over 2027-28 assuming the current global uncertainties are resolved in an orderly fashion, it said. 'The outlook, however, is subject to significant downside risks, as policy shifts may continue to unfold globally. Elevated trade tensions would dampen demand for India's exports and further delay the recovery in investment,' it said. The current account deficit is expected to average around 1.2 per cent of GDP over FY26-28 and remain adequately financed by capital inflows, it said, adding that foreign exchange reserves are projected to remain stable around 16 per cent of GDP. India has lifted 171 million people from extreme poverty in the decade between 2011-12 and 2022-23, the World Bank said. 'Over the past decade, India has significantly reduced poverty. Extreme poverty (living on less than USD 2.15 per day) fell from 16.2 per cent in 2011-12 to 2.3 per cent in 2022-23, lifting 171 million people above this line, the World Bank had said in its 'Poverty & Equity Brief' on India in April. The rural extreme poverty dropped from 18.4 per cent to 2.8 per cent, and urban from 10.7 per cent to 1.1 per cent, narrowing the rural-urban gap from 7.7 to 1.7 percentage points, it had said. PTI DP TRB This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Time of India
08-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Despite World Bank raising threshold, India achieves big dip in extreme poverty
NEW DELHI: India's extreme poverty rate has fallen sharply over the past decade after the World Bank updated its international poverty line definition and included updated data in its June upgrade of the methodology. Based on the update, the latest World Bank data showed that the extreme poverty rate had declined from 27.1% in 2011-12 to 5.3% in 2022-23. The number of people living in extreme poverty also fell sharply during this period from 344.47 million in 2011-12 to 75.24 million in 2022-23. This would mean that nearly 270 million were lifted out of extreme poverty during the same period. In a blog, the World Bank said that the international poverty line for low-income countries has been raised to $3 per person per day from the existing $2.15 per person per day, and for lower middle-income countries it's changed from $3.65 to $4.20 per day and for upper middle-income countries it went up from $6.85 to $8.40. Given India's inflation rate, between 2017 and 2021, a revised extreme poverty line of $3 would constitute a 15% higher threshold than $2.15 expressed in 2021 prices and result in a 5.3% poverty rate in 2022-23. A new LMIC line of $4.20 would imply a 5% lower threshold for poverty than $3.65 adjusted in 2021 prices and yield a poverty rate of 23.9%, according to the World Bank. Using the new poverty line for low middle income countries (LMIC), which is at $4.20 per day per person, India's poverty rate fell to 23.9% in 2022-23 from 57.7% in 2011-12. The number of people in extreme poverty was down from 732.48 million in 2011-12 to 342.32 million in 2022-23, according to the data available on the World Bank's Poverty and Inequality Platform. Free and subsidised food transfers supported poverty reduction, and the rural-urban poverty gap narrowed. The five most populous states account for 54% of the extremely poor, it had said. According to the poverty and equity brief published by World Bank in April, extreme poverty (living on less than $2.15 per day) fell from 16.2% in 2011- 12 to 2.3% in 2022-23, lifting 171 million people above this line. Rural extreme poverty dropped from 18.4% to 2.8% , and urban from 10.7% to 1.1% , narrowing the rural-urban gap from 7.7 to 1.7 percentage points-a 16% annual decline. The poverty report had also said India has transitioned into the lower-middle-income category. Using the $3.65 per day LMIC poverty line, poverty fell from 61.8% to 28.1%, lifting 378 million people out of poverty. Rural poverty dropped from 69% to 32.5%, and urban poverty from 43.5% to 17.2%, reducing the rural-urban gap from 25 to 15 percentage points with a 7% annual decline, the April report had said. The updated World Bank data is expected to come as a shot in the arm for the govt and bolster its record of handling the economy and pursuing policies to push inclusive growth and lift millions out of poverty. Last year, Niti Aayog CEO BVR Subhramanyam had indicated that the poverty level could be less than 5% based on preliminary estimates on the household consumption expenditure (HCES) data released by the statistics office. World Bank has said that in recent years, the scope and quality of information provided by household surveys has improved enormously, particularly in low-income and lower-middle-income countries, offering a clearer view into people's welfare and day-to-day lives. Several research papers have also indicated the reduction in extreme poverty over the last decade thanks to robust growth. A survey released last year estimated poverty to have declined to 8.5% from 21% in 2011-12 and pointed out that chronic poverty has come down but there is a significant proportion of people who can slip back into poverty due to "accident of life". World Bank, which introduced the international poverty line (IPL) in 1990, has undertaken several updates to include changing prices and costs, and the latest update was undertaken on June 5. The first update to IPL happened in 2001, with subsequent revisions in 2008, 2015, 2022, and more recently this month. This latest update, which also applies to the poverty lines for middle-income countries, follows the release last year of a new set of PPPs based on prices collected in 2021 by the International Comparison Programme. It also reflects changes in national poverty lines, which is a big reason for the increase, especially for the line that tracks extreme poverty, according to the World Bank.
Time of India
07-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Despite West Bengal raising threshold, India achieves big dip in extreme poverty
NEW DELHI: India's extreme poverty rate has fallen sharply over the past decade after the World Bank updated its international poverty line definition and included updated data in its June upgrade of the methodology. Based on the update, the latest World Bank data showed that the extreme poverty rate had declined from 27.1% in 2011-12 to 5.3% in 2022-23. The number of people living in extreme poverty also fell sharply during this period from 344.47 million in 2011-12 to 75.24 million in 2022-23. This would mean that nearly 270 million were lifted out of extreme poverty during the same period. In a blog, the World Bank said that the international poverty line for low-income countries has been raised to $3 per person per day from the existing $2.15 per person per day, and for lower middle-income countries it's changed from $3.65 to $4.20 per day and for upper middle-income countries it went up from $6.85 to $8.40. Given India's inflation rate, between 2017 and 2021, a revised extreme poverty line of $3 would constitute a 15% higher threshold than $2.15 expressed in 2021 prices and result in a 5.3% poverty rate in 2022-23. A new LMIC line of $4.20 would imply a 5% lower threshold for poverty than $3.65 adjusted in 2021 prices and yield a poverty rate of 23.9%, according to the World Bank. Using the new poverty line for low middle income countries (LMIC), which is at $4.20 per day per person, India's poverty rate fell to 23.9% in 2022-23 from 57.7% in 2011-12. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Perdagangkan CFD Emas dengan Broker Tepercaya IC Markets Mendaftar Undo The number of people in extreme poverty was down from 732.48 million in 2011-12 to 342.32 million in 2022-23, according to the data available on the World Bank's Poverty and Inequality Platform. Free and subsidised food transfers supported poverty reduction, and the rural-urban poverty gap narrowed. The five most populous states account for 54% of the extremely poor, it had said. According to the poverty and equity brief published by World Bank in April, extreme poverty (living on less than $2.15 per day) fell from 16.2% in 2011- 12 to 2.3% in 2022-23, lifting 171 million people above this line. Rural extreme poverty dropped from 18.4% to 2.8% , and urban from 10.7% to 1.1% , narrowing the rural-urban gap from 7.7 to 1.7 percentage points-a 16% annual decline. The poverty report had also said India has transitioned into the lower-middle-income category. Using the $3.65 per day LMIC poverty line, poverty fell from 61.8% to 28.1%, lifting 378 million people out of poverty. Rural poverty dropped from 69% to 32.5%, and urban poverty from 43.5% to 17.2%, reducing the rural-urban gap from 25 to 15 percentage points with a 7% annual decline, the April report had said. The updated World Bank data is expected to come as a shot in the arm for the govt and bolster its record of handling the economy and pursuing policies to push inclusive growth and lift millions out of poverty. Last year, Niti Aayog CEO BVR Subhramanyam had indicated that the poverty level could be less than 5% based on preliminary estimates on the household consumption expenditure (HCES) data released by the statistics office. World Bank has said that in recent years, the scope and quality of information provided by household surveys has improved enormously, particularly in low-income and lower-middle-income countries, offering a clearer view into people's welfare and day-to-day lives. Several research papers have also indicated the reduction in extreme poverty over the last decade thanks to robust growth. A survey released last year estimated poverty to have declined to 8.5% from 21% in 2011-12 and pointed out that chronic poverty has come down but there is a significant proportion of people who can slip back into poverty due to "accident of life". World Bank, which introduced the international poverty line (IPL) in 1990, has undertaken several updates to include changing prices and costs, and the latest update was undertaken on June 5. The first update to IPL happened in 2001, with subsequent revisions in 2008, 2015, 2022, and more recently this month. This latest update, which also applies to the poverty lines for middle-income countries, follows the release last year of a new set of PPPs based on prices collected in 2021 by the International Comparison Programme. It also reflects changes in national poverty lines, which is a big reason for the increase, especially for the line that tracks extreme poverty, according to the World Bank.
