Is Private Health Care the Solution for the World's Poor?
Author Information
Author(s): Kara Hanson, Lucy Gilson, Catherine Goodman, Anne Mills, Richard Smith, Richard Feachem, Neelam Sekhri Feachem, Tracey Perez Koehlmoos, Heather Kinlaw
Primary Institution: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Hypothesis
Should the private sector increase its involvement in the health systems of low-income countries?
Conclusion
Strengthening the public role in health care financing is essential to protect the poorest from catastrophic health care costs.
Supporting Evidence
- Private health services vary widely in quality and accessibility.
- Poor people often use lower-quality private providers.
- Public health systems in low-income countries often lack incentives for good performance.
Takeaway
This study looks at whether private health care can help poor people get better health services, but it finds that public health care needs to be stronger to really help them.
Potential Biases
There may be biases in how private sector effectiveness is reported due to the lack of rigorous evaluations.
Limitations
The evidence on the effectiveness of private sector involvement in health care is limited and often not well evaluated.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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