India must spend more to combat outbreaks such as COVID-19 in future, says analyst

4 May 2020

With an unexpected spike in COVID-19 cases, India has extended the countrywide lockdown till May 17, 2020. The move reflects India’s dependency on lockdown to contain the pandemic amid poor healthcare spending and infrastructure, says data and analytics company GlobalData.

According to GlobalData COVID-19 dashboard, as of May 4, although India has 42,505 confirmed cases, fatality rate in India was 3.27% versus 7.06% worldwide, 5.59% in China and 5.84 % in the USA. As of May 3, GlobalData forecasts 10,177,238 confirmed COVID-19 cases in India in a high transmission risk scenario versus 132,388 in a low transmission risk scenario by the end of two weeks from now on May 14.

“The COVID-19 pandemic shows the need for healthcare system bootstrap in India, as the country is unable to raise the healthcare spending by more than 3.8% of GDP [gross domestic product], as compared to the APAC average of 6.64%, even though the country stands at the top in out-of-pocket expenditure with 62.40%,” says GlobalData’s pharma analyst Bhavani Nelavelly.

This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.

Try before you buy

Free

7 day trial access

Take a Free Trial

All the news that moves the needle in pharma and biotech
Exclusive features, podcasts, interviews, data analyses and commentary from our global network of life sciences reporters.
Receive The Pharma Letter daily news bulletin, free forever.

Become a subscriber

£820

Or £77 per month

Subscribe Now

Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription

The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed

Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK