A recent study confirms that the Internet is a primary source of health information in India
India Health Update
A recent Bupa Health Pulse survey of over 12,000 people in 12 different countries around the world found that 90 % of Indians with Internet access search online for health advice.
| Proportion of India Internet users searching for online health information | 90% |
| Proportion of India Internet users who search for information about a medicine | 60% |
| Proportion of India Internet users who search for information for self-diagnosis | 42% |
| Number of Internet users in India | 81 million |
Primary uses of health related Internet searches are to find information about medicines, self-diagnosis and to seek other patients’ experiences.
Only 6.9 % of India’s population has access to the Internet, which is well behind other emerging economies such as China (31.6%) and Brazil (37.8%). However the number of people accessing the Internet in India in 2010 is estimated to be 81 million but Internet use is growing rapidly. Between 2008 and 2009 Internet use in rural India grew by 17 %.
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Total population: 1,151,751,000 Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2006): 109 Total expenditure on health as % of GDP: 4.9 |
Sources:
1 Bupa Health Pulse 2010, Online Health: Untangling the Web - http://bit.ly/hDBJKY
2 WHO India - http://www.who.int/countries/ind/en/