Private Health Care in India: Social Characteristics and Trends

India has adopted a planned approach to the development of health services, with the state playing a central role in training, finance and management. At the same time, the state has not only accommodated by protected private interests. By the mid-1980s, the government began to openly accept its inability to achieve health goals and began to accord a prominent role for the private sector in the delivery of health care. The result is a mixed model with the growth of the private sector being closely intertwined with the public sector at several levels. This pioneering study explores not only the trends in the privatisation of health care over the past fifty years but also its social basis. Based on an empirical study of private hospitals in the city of Hyderabad. Rama Baru delineates the emerging patterns of medical care in the private sector within a historical and global perspective. She examines the role of professionals, certain social classes, and international capital, all of which have shaped the content of privatisation. The book lucidly unravels the links between the public and private sectors as also the complex social processes through which these interests have been consolidated. A unique feature of the book is its examination of the social bases of privatisation. The author clearly demonstrates, through an in-depth study of the background of medical entrepreneurs, that there has been a movement of capital away from agriculture and business into the medical sector. Dr. Baru shows how the growth of the private sector has had a negative impact on the public sector, at the same time raising questions about the quality of care, the efficiency of health services, and the social responsibility of medical professionals. She concludes that in a country where a significant portion of the population still lives in poverty, the additional burden of paying for medical care will result only in further impoverishment. Replete with new insights, this book will be of considerable interest to health professionals and policy-makers, as also to all those involved in public health, medical sociology, health economics and management, and development studies.