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Research Paper | Health Sciences | India | Volume 9 Issue 6, June 2020
Role of Private Healthcare in Universal Health Care
Abstract: The spirit of 'Health for all' has been at the core of designing of India's Public Health System. Going back to 1946 and Bhore Committee's report [1] and Alma Ata Declaration, 1978 [2] formed the foundation of the first National Health Policy 1983 [3]. The Committee recommended a health system for delivering comprehensive preventive and curative allopathic services through a rural-focused multi-tier government financed system for all irrespective their ability to pay. Subsequent to that the National Health Policy (1983) emphasized the goal of comprehensive primary healthcare services relevant to the needs of the community and their priorities. We, unfortunately, not only fell too short of achieving the goals but were unable to mobilize enough public funds to meet the needs. Investment in Health System stayed lower than 1% of GDP for a long time and in 2005 with National Rural Health Mission commissioning an increase to 1.4% was envisaged. Several environmental factors changed after 1990s with privatization, liberalization, and globalization. Private sector participation in medical-- nursing-paramedical education and hospitals grew very rapidly in the last three decades. Parallelly the Public Health System suffered from chronic under financing, low level of regulation, almost absent political prioritization and continued focus on disease specific programmes further pushed the communities to access private healthcare which boomed.
Keywords: Healthcare, National Health Policy, Ayushman Bharat
Edition: Volume 9 Issue 6, June 2020,
Pages: 1906 - 1913