A healthy partnership (Indian Express, editorial)

A healthy partnership (Indian Express, editorial)

Strengthening of public health services must go along with leveraging of private sector resources.

Context:

• Strengthening of the country’s public health services must go along with private sector resources.

Need for the Public and Private health care partnership:

• Community Health Centres report a 65 per cent vacancy rate of specialists since governments are simply unable to attract and retain talent. For example:
• The recent Gorakhpur tragedy is just another reminder of the tragic consequences ultimately borne by our citizens.
• After decades of effort at strengthening our health system, the country is still struggling with the absenteeism of doctors — ranging from 28 per cent to 68 per cent in different states.
• In the prestigious AIIMS at New Delhi, there are 1.33 lakh cancer patients seeking care, of which only 36,000 get admitted with the number of beds available for chemotherapy being a mere 36.
• The urgency of supply shortage requires the strengthening of public sector while also leveraging private resources and capacities.
• Thus, the recent Niti-Aayog’s public–private partnership aims to ensure that district hospitals provide basic services for the diagnosis and treatment of non-communicable diseases at affordable rates or free of cost for those patients for whom the government chooses to cover such costs through insurance or through budgetary grants.