Wealth as Determinant of Healthcare Management: A Perspective in Context of India

Abstract

The growing healthcare needs have made health sector into a billion dollars industry in India but making it inaccessible to millions of countrymen living in multidimensional poverty. Wealth in health is eclipsing the moral values in dealing human health as a service to mankind. The current paper, based on the analysis of secondary data on different parameters, is an attempt to understand that how wealth has made a difference in health indicators of rich and poor; how looking for return of investment in health is responsible for downfall of moral values associated with human healthcare and making healthcare inaccessible to poor. Addressing gaps in health care has provided an opportunity to stakeholders to strategically use the increasing health consciousness of people to propel their business. At the same time it has become a cause for rising healthcare cost and eventually the cause for poor health seeking behaviour of people of low wealth quintile and inability of the system to develop quality level public health infrastructure which can be used by all, irrespective to wealth status. The paper concludes that to universalise the healthcare the best possible solution is the revival of moral values in healthcare industry. All stakeholders, dealing directly or indirectly with human health, should adopt socialistic approach to cut down their profits and make health universally affordable