In recent decades, unhealthy diets, sedentary lifestyles and environmental pollution have triggered a tsunami of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The latest Global Burden of Disease report by The Lancet, released in the last quarter of 2025, indicates that the transition from communicable to NCDs has accelerated during the past decade. This has led to the paradoxical situation of Indians living longer but seeing the quality of their lives going down during their twilight years.
World Health Organisation (WHO) data reveals that NCDs account for almost 65% of deaths in the country. Around one-fourth of Indians succumbing to NCDs are under the age of 70 years, while these figures remain lower in the US (12%) and China (17%). Such statistics show that Indians are either succumbing earlier to lifestyle ailments or living with a diminished quality of life in their advanced years.
This situation stresses the significance of changing the health care approach from prescriptive to preventive. Such an approach is based on timely detection and diagnosis of ailments so that these can be detected in the first instance. Therefore, importance should be accorded to testing for tangible biomarkers in wellness rather than in illness.
Instead of following fads, untested trends or unreliable generic advice, it is best to use an evidence-linked approach. Data-driven health care is vital to ensure that the rising spread of infectious and chronic diseases is managed well in time to curb morbidity and mortality rates. Fortunately, alongside the rise in chronic ailments, there is a concomitant increase in awareness among people, particularly in urban areas. This has led to a growing demand for preventive diagnostic tests.
According to a CareEdge Ratings report, the domestic diagnostics market is projected to register a CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) of more than 12% in the next five years to reach $15–$16 billion. Though diagnostics are responsible for more than 70% of medical decisions, diagnostic services contribute only less than 10% of India’s total health care segment. Therefore, early disease detection to guide treatment decisions is crucial. Besides the changing demographic profiles, an expanding health care ecosystem in tier 2 cities and beyond, plus growing private and public health insurance penetration, the wellness/preventive testing space is slated to become a huge growth driver for domestic diagnostic companies. Significantly, though over 60% of India’s population resides in rural regions, more than 70% of diagnostic revenues come from urban markets.
Diagnostic test reports allow health care providers to prescribe proper lifestyle and treatment regimens to individuals with chronic or communicable ailments. These well-informed decisions also encourage adherence to healthy dietary and lifestyle choices and ensure disease triggers are avoided.
NCDs have emerged as the prime cause of morbidity among the masses, replacing infectious ailments such as TB, pneumonia and diarrhoea. Lancet’s recent study also notes that most deaths in India occur from NCDs like heart disease, stroke, diabetes and chronic lung ailments, underlining the shifting disease burden. The shift from acute infections to chronic, lifestyle ailments has major implications for an individual and necessitates risk prevention.
This burgeoning lifestyle disease burden in India includes heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, cancers, strokes, lung, liver and kidney diseases. Given the serious threat to life from these diseases, prevention is the need of the hour. It is especially urgent in the Indian context, as Indians are affected by NCDs almost a decade earlier than their western counterparts. Left undetected and thus untreated, these ailments can cause debilitating conditions and premature deaths in people stepping into their 40s.
Accordingly, early testing and diagnosis remain the best means to delay or prevent disease progression. Here, the role of modern technology in diagnostic labs is indispensable. Automation, molecular diagnostics and AI-powered reporting are facilitating early diagnosis and detection. In turn, this supports personalised care and empowers the individual to take charge of his own health. By using diagnostic insights, doctors can create customised nutrition, fitness and treatment programmes to fit the needs of individual patients. In this way, the shortcomings of a one-size-fits-all approach are also avoided.
However, an awareness gap continues to exist among people, especially those residing in rural areas. This situation can be addressed by awareness campaigns that emphasise the key role of preventive testing. Awareness of preventive methods and timely detection are critical to prevent deaths from silent killers like diabetes, high blood pressure and others.
The biggest benefit of preventive tests is that they reduce long-term healthcare costs. Early diagnosis avoids costly interventions and prolonged hospitalisations, leading to financial hardship. Prevention is truly the best cure, promoting overall well-being and redefining modern health care in India.
This article is authored by Dr Arvind Lal, executive chairman, Dr Lal PathLabs.
