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 spiralled. It is estimated that Health care expenditures account for more than half of all Indian households falling into poverty, with nearly 4 crore Indian people being pushed into poverty every year due to such costs. While ordinary patients are suffering tremendously due to this situation, it should be kept in mind that due to growing corporatisation and commercialisation of the entire health care sector, it is also becoming extremely difficult for the dwindling numbers of rationally practicing doctors and genuinely non-profit health facilities to practice ethically.
Located within the broader context of 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 since last two decades in the health sector in India, SATHI has been in the forefront of activities around ensuring social accountability of private healthcare, and it hosts the Global Thematic hub on Accountability of Private Healthcare Sector associated with COPASAH. SATHI’s work on this front in recent few years has been rapidly expanding within India in collaboration with various networks like Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (People’s Health Movement – India).
SATHI has 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.
Along with this, SATHI also works as the national secretariat of ‘Alliance of Doctors for Ethical Healthcare’ (ADEH-www.ethicaldoctors.org), which is a national network of medical professionals who support reforms in the health system to ensure de-commercialisation of healthcare and more democratised regulation of the medical profession, while moving towards UHC. Complementary to this, SATHI has also been instrumental in developing ‘Patient- Doctor Forums’ in Mumbai and Pune.
We are also into generation of knowledge pertaining to practices of private healthcare sector and have also spearheaded innovative research related to it.
As a pioneering civil society organisation working since last two decades in the health sector in India, SATHI has been in the forefront of activities around ensuring social accountability of private healthcare, and it hosts the Global Thematic hub on Accountability of Private Healthcare Sector associated with COPASAH. SATHI’s work on this front in recent few years has been rapidly expanding within India in collaboration with various networks like Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (People’s Health Movement – India).
SATHI has 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.
Along with this, SATHI also works as the national secretariat of ‘Alliance of Doctors for Ethical Healthcare’ (ADEH-www.ethicaldoctors.org), which is a national network of medical professionals who support reforms in the health system to ensure de-commercialisation of healthcare and more democratised regulation of the medical profession, while moving towards UHC. Complementary to this, SATHI has also been instrumental in developing ‘Patient- Doctor Forums’ in Mumbai and Pune.
We are also into generation of knowledge pertaining to practices of private healthcare sector and have also spearheaded innovative research related to it.
