India has one of the largest private medical sectors in the world – yet this gigantic entity has remained largely unaccountable and unregulated until now. Serious problems in this sector include frequent financial exploitation of patients, often accompanied by sub-standard and irrational care in private hospitals and nursing homes. Costs of private medical services have spiraled to unrealistic levels. It is estimated that health care expenditures account for more than half of all Indian households falling into poverty, with nearly 4 crore Indians pushed into poverty every year due to medical costs. While ordinary patients suffer due to growing corporatization and commercialisation of the entire health care sector, it is also becoming extremely difficult for the dwindling numbers of rationally practicing health professionals and genuine non-profit health facilities to practice ethically. Located within the broader context of the need for strengthening public health services and rolling back privatisation, comprehensive social accountability of the private medical sector is an outstanding need today.
As a pioneering civil society organisation working in the Indian health sector for two decades, SATHI has been at the forefront of activities around ensuring social accountability of private healthcare. It hosts the Global Thematic Hub on Accountability of Private Healthcare Sector associated with COPASAH. SATHI’s work on this front in the last few years has expanded rapidly within India, in collaboration with networks like Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (People’s Health Movement – India).
SATHI initiated a National patients’ rights campaign in India, which is now finding enthusiastic and widespread responses from CSOs and citizens, who are deeply affected and concerned about the wide range of issues related to commercialised and unregulated private healthcare providers.
As a pioneering civil society organisation working in the Indian health sector for two decades, SATHI has been at the forefront of activities around ensuring social accountability of private healthcare. It hosts the Global Thematic Hub on Accountability of Private Healthcare Sector associated with COPASAH. SATHI’s work on this front in the last few years has expanded rapidly within India, in collaboration with networks like Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (People’s Health Movement – India).
SATHI initiated a National patients’ rights campaign in India, which is now finding enthusiastic and widespread responses from CSOs and citizens, who are deeply affected and concerned about the wide range of issues related to commercialised and unregulated private healthcare providers.
