Private sector must get involved in primary healthcare: Health secretary

Mumbai, July 15, 2022:

Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan has asserted that private sector is a critical player in the overall healthcare system in the country. He added that a large part of health burden is borne by the private sector providers.  

“Private sector is a critical player and must get involved not only in secondary and tertiary healthcare but also in the primary healthcare which has historically remained a less-glamorous area for the private sector. Even in the secondary and tertiary healthcare where a major part of hospitalization is in the private sector, is limited to metros and bigger towns only. Private sector can also step-in even in tier-2 and 3 towns and government will provide an enabling eco-system for the private sector,” he highlighted.
 
Addressing the seminar on ‘Transforming Primary Healthcare in India through AB-HWCs’, organized by FICCI, jointly with Nathealth and OMAG, Bhushan said that to promote start-ups, National Health Authority (NHA) has created a sandbox for young start-ups and private developers to develop and use the sandbox facility to run their application on the eSanjeevani platform. “Going ahead, we need to look at ‘appropriate technologies’ and not necessarily cutting-edge technology. We may not require cutting-edge technology in the primary healthcare, but we do require appropriate technology which can be cost effective,” added Bhushan.

Urging the private sector for more investments in the primary healthcare sector, the health secretary said that industry must utilize forums like FICCI and other associations to encourage private sector providers to engage with state governments to forge sustainable partnerships and add value to health and wellness centres.

To attract private sector in the primary healthcare, Bhushan said that both the Union and the state government are open for partnerships with private promoters, non-government entities to strengthen the primary healthcare. “To take this forward, it is important for the states to prepare baselines of their health and wellness centres and what interventions they want the private sector to bring in,” he added.

Highlighting the concerns of the primary healthcare centres, Bhushan said that with the dual burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases, currently we have overcrowding of the secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities. Overcrowding is also because of the weaknesses of the primary health system along with the historical case of underfunding of the primary care health systems. “What is required is a ‘fit-for-purpose’ primary healthcare system which provides comprehensive primary healthcare to realize the goal of Universal Health Coverage,” he added. PharmaBiz