Hong Kong: Despite India's rapid economic growth its healthcare system has remained in the doldrums and is struggling with high rates of child and maternal deaths, malaria, tuberculosis (TB) and a growing problem with chronic diseases.
Below are some indicators of India's state of health and comparisons with China and other countries:
1) India had 2 million new cases of TB in 2009, and it killed 280,000 people that year.
About 1.4 million people in China fall ill with TB each year and it killed 160,000 people there in 2008.
2) India had 963 confirmed malaria deaths in 2005 compared with 48 in China, according to the World Health Organisation.
3) India's infant mortality rate was 53 per 1,000 livebirths in 2008, while China's stood at 16.5 in 2010.
This figure is well below 10 in advanced nations. It stands at 6.1 in the United States, 4.7 in Britain, 2.9 in Hong Kong and 2.3 in Singapore.
4) India's maternal mortality rate was 230 per 100,000 live births in 2008, compared with 26 in China.
The figure was 24 in the United States, 12 in Britain, 5 in Italy and 3 in Ireland in 2008, according to UNICEF.
5) Chronic diseases killed half of the 10.3 million people who died in India in 2004, and they are projected to make up 75 percent of all deaths by 2030.
In China, 83 percent of all deaths are because of chronic diseases, in particular heart disease and strokes, hypertension, cancer and respiratory diseases.
6) In India, there is practically no financial protection for most people against medical expenditures.
China implemented healthcare reforms in 2003 and gave it an additional boost in 2009 by injecting $124 billion. It says 92 percent of its people are covered by basic healthcare insurance, but critics say that coverage is barely enough.
Sources: The Lancet India series, World Health Organisation, UNICEF, China's Ministry of Health, CIA World Factbook.
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