Rehabilitation in India: An Urgent Need for Policy Reform and Expansion
India has made remarkable progress in healthcare over the past few decades. Advances in medicine, improved public health measures, expanded vaccination programs, and better emergency care have significantly reduced mortality rates. People are living longer than ever before. However, as mortality decreases, a new challenge emerges: the growing burden of morbidity, disability, and chronic illness. Millions of Indians survive strokes, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, cancer, arthritis, neurological disorders, and other chronic health conditions. Survival alone is not enough. These individuals need rehabilitation services to regain function, independence, dignity, and quality of life. Unfortunately, rehabilitation remains one of the most neglected components of healthcare in India. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) departments are scarce, particularly outside major metropolitan cities. Many districts have no structured rehabilitation facilities at all...