Appropriate Role for the Private Sector in Health Care of India

The present issue of Health for the Millions on ‘Appropriate Role for the Private Sector in Health Care in India’, particularly looks at the state of Private Health Sector in India. It provides detailed analysis of sensitive issue in the health care sector of the country. Due to the depressing state of the public sector in health care, there has been an unprecedented growth of the private
sector, in primary and secondary and tertiary health care all over the country. This growth of unregulated private practice has shaken the very objective of equity and social justice in the provision of health care. Due to the falling ethical standards of the medical profession and totally free market technology-driven operational principles, the private sector generally falls short of providing quality health care at a reasonable cost. Through a detailed analysis of the nature and trend of this unwanted development in the country’s health care scenario, the authors have built up a sound critique of the existing situation. The issue is replete with valuable suggestions for organizing the private health sector through a public-private mix and introductions of participatory regulatory norms.