<span style="color: #222222;">Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan today released India report on Longitudinal Ageing Study of India (LASI) Wave-1 on the virtual platform. LASI is a full-scale national survey of scientific investigation of the health, economic, and social determinants and consequences of population ageing in India.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Highlighting the importance of the report, Dr Harsh Vardhan said, in the 2011 census, the 60 plus population accounted for 8.6 per cent of India's population, accounting for 103 million elderly people. Growing at around three per cent annually, the number of elderly people will rise to 319 million in 2050. He said, 75 per cent of the elderly people suffer from some chronic diseases. About 40 per cent of the elderly people have one or the other disability and 20 per cent have issues related to mental health.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The Minister said, this report will provide a base for national and state level programmes and policies for elderly population. Restating the commitments of the Government to healthy ageing, Dr Harsh Vardhan said, we should ensure that the elderly are provided with the best medical care. He said, India has one of the ambitious programme of the world, Ayushman Bharat Yojana which focuses on expansion of healthcare facilities.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The National Programme for Health Care of Elderly, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has undertaken the LASI, through International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai in collaboration with Harvard School of Public Health, University of Southern California, USA, United Nations Population Fund and National Institute on Ageing. The LASI, Wave – 1 covered a baseline sample of over 72,000 individuals aged 45 and above and their spouses including over 31,000 elderly persons aged 60 and above and over 6,700 oldest-old persons aged 75 and above from all States and Union Territories of the country excluding Sikkim.</span><br />''