Healthcare financing: Approaches and trends in India.
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2010-07
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Abstract
Despite the importance of healthcare for the well-being of society,
there is little public debate in India on issues relating to it. The
‘human capital approach’ to finance healthcare largely relies on
private investment in health, while the ‘human development
approach’ envisages the State as the guarantor of preventive as well
as curative care to achieve universalization of healthcare. The
prevailing health indices of India and challenges in the field of
public health require a human development approach to healthcare.
On the eve of Independence, India adopted the human development
approach, with the report of the Bhore Committee emphasizing
the role of the State in the development and provision of
healthcare. However, more recently, successive governments have
moved towards the human capital approach. Instead of increasing
state spending on health and expanding the public health
infrastructure, the government has been relying more and more on
the private sector. The public–private partnership has been touted
as the new-age panacea for the ills of the Indian healthcare system.
This approach has led to a stagnation of public health indices and
a decrease in the access of the poor to healthcare.
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Bajpai Vikas, Saraya Anoop. Healthcare financing: Approaches and trends in India. National Medical Journal of India. 2010 Jul-Aug; 23(4): 231-235.