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India's Health Crisis: Funding Gaps and Global Woes
28 Dec, 2025
Summary
- US funding withdrawal impacted India's HIV/AIDS and maternal health projects.
- India's health budget remains below 2% of GDP, far from the 2.5% target.
- Pharma quality issues led to child deaths from contaminated cough syrup.
India faces mounting health challenges, exacerbated by a significant funding deficit following the US withdrawal from the WHO early in 2025. This cut affected vital PEPFAR and USAID-backed projects in HIV/AIDS and maternal health. The Union and State governments are now working to bridge this gap. India's health budget has consistently stayed below 2% of GDP, falling short of the National Health Policy's 2.5% target and hindering the 'health for all' initiative.
The nation confronts resurgent infectious diseases, declining air quality, and the continued struggle to meet its TB elimination goal by 2025. Antimicrobial resistance is a growing concern, with one in three bacterial infections showing resistance, driven by factors like over-the-counter antibiotic access and inadequate regulation.
Furthermore, critical pharmaceutical quality issues have emerged, highlighted by 25 child deaths in Madhya Pradesh due to contaminated cough syrup. This incident underscores systemic failures in quality control and threatens India's 'pharmacy of the world' ambition, demanding urgent reforms to its regulatory framework.
