PRIVATE SECTOR IN HEALTH CARE DELIVERY: A REALITY AND A CHALLENGE IN PAKISTAN
Abstract
Under performance of the public sector health care system inPakistanhas created a room for private sector to grow and become popular in health service delivery, despite its questionable quality, high cost and dubious ethics of medical practice. Private sector is no doubt a reality; and is functioning to plug many weaknesses and gaps in health care delivery to the poor people ofPakistan. Yet, it is largely unregulated and unchecked due to the absence of writ of the state. In spite of its inherent trait of profit making, the private sector has played a significant and innovative role both in preventive and curative service provision. Private sector has demonstrated great deal of responsiveness, hence creating a relation of trust with the consumers of health inPakistan, majority of who spend out of their pocket to buy '˜health'. There is definitely a potential to engage and involve private and non-state entities in the health care system building their capacities and instituting regulatory frameworks, to protect the poor's access to health care system.
Keywords: Health care system; Health seeking behaviours; Private sector; Developing countries;Pakistan
References
Shaikh BT, Hatcher J. Health seeking behavior and health service utilization in Pakistan: challenging the policy makers. J Public Health (Oxf) 2005;27:49-54.
Pakistan Medical Research Council. Health profile of people of Pakistan. National Health Survey of Pakistan. Islamabad: 1998.
National Institute of Population Studies & Macro International. Pakistan Demographic & Health Survey 2006-7.Islamabad: 2008
United Nations Development Program. Human Development Report 2014. Sustaining human progress: Reducing vulnerabilities and building resilience. New York: 2014.
Ministry of Finance. Economic Survey of Pakistan 2013-14. Government of Pakistan, Islamabad: 2013.
Nishtar S. The Gateway Paper. Health System in Pakistan. Pakistan's Health Policy Forum and Heartfile; Islamabad: 2006.
Rehman A, Shaikh BT, Ronis KA. Health care seeking patterns and out of pocket payments for children under five years of age living in Katchi Abadis (slums), in Islamabad, Pakistan. Int J Equity Health 2014;13:30.
National Institute of Population Studies & Macro International. Pakistan Demographic & Health Survey 2012-13. Islamabad: 2014.
World Health Organization. World Health Statistics 2014. Geneva.
Brugha R, Pritze-Aliassime S. Promoting safe motherhood through the private sector in low- and middle-income countries. Bull World Health Organ 2003;81:616-23.
Ravindran TK. Privatisation in reproductive health services in Pakistan: three case studies. Reprod Health Matters 2010;18(36):13-24.
Azmat SK, Shaikh BT, Hameed W, Mustafa G, Hussain W, Asghar J, et al. Impact of social franchising on contraceptive use when complemented by vouchers: a quasi-experimental study in rural Pakistan. PLoS One 2013;8(9):e74260.
Shaikh BT. Quality of health care: an absolute necessity for patient satisfaction. J Pak Med Assoc 2005;55(11):515-6.
Ali M, Qazi MS, Seuc A. Seeking what matters: determinants of clients' satisfaction in obstetric care services in Pakistan. J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad 2014;26(4):481-7.
Mills A. Health care systems in low and middle income countries. N Engl J Med 2014;370(6):552-7.
Dora C, Haines A, Balbus J, Fletcher E, Adair-Rohani H, Alabaster G, et al. Indicators linking health and sustainability in the post-2015 development agenda. Lancet 2015;385(9965):380-91.
World Health Organization. Strengthening the capacity of governments to constructively engage the private sector in providing essential health-care services. Sixty-third World Health Assembly. Geneva: 2010.
The Network. Prices, availability and affordability of medicines in Pakistan. Islamabad: 2006.
Gadit AA. Corruption in medical practice: How far have we gone? J Pak Med Assoc 2011;61(1):93-4.
Ensor T, Weinzierl. A review of regulation in the health sector in low and middle income countries. Oxford Policy Management: 2006.
Ejaz I, Shaikh BT, Rizvi N. NGOs and government partnership for health systems strengthening: a qualitative study presenting viewpoints of government, NGOs and donors in Pakistan. BMC Health Serv Res 2011;11:122.
Walt G, Brugha R, Haines A. Working with the private sector: the need for institutional guidelines. BMJ 2002;325;432-5.
Lagomarsino G, Nachuk S, Kundra SS. Public stewardship of private providers in mixed health systems. Rockefeller Foundation. Washington DC: 2009.
Palmer N, Mills A, Wadee A, Gilson L, Schneider H. A new face for private providers in developing countries: what implications for public health? Bull World Health Organ 2003;81(4):292-7
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Journal of Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad is an OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL which means that all content is FREELY available without charge to all users whether registered with the journal or not. The work published by J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad is licensed and distributed under the creative commons License CC BY ND Attribution-NoDerivs. Material printed in this journal is OPEN to access, and are FREE for use in academic and research work with proper citation. J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad accepts only original material for publication with the understanding that except for abstracts, no part of the data has been published or will be submitted for publication elsewhere before appearing in J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. The Editorial Board of J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad makes every effort to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of material printed in J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. However, conclusions and statements expressed are views of the authors and do not reflect the opinion/policy of J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad or the Editorial Board.
USERS are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.
AUTHORS retain the rights of free downloading/unlimited e-print of full text and sharing/disseminating the article without any restriction, by any means including twitter, scholarly collaboration networks such as ResearchGate, Academia.eu, and social media sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Scholar and any other professional or academic networking site.
