Private capital, a catalyst for UHC

Universal Health Coverage in India by 2030 necessitates a collaborative effort between private enterprises and the government. Successful Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) are available in diagnostic and dialysis services. For instance, the Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Program (2016) enabled private enterprises to set up PPP dialysis centres in States/UTs where lowincome groups can avail free dialysis, resulting in 20 millionodd dialysis sessions annually.

Private healthcare sector’s contributions during Covid19 further underscored the potential for synergies — the allocation of nearly 80 per cent of private sector hospital beds to Covid19 patients, contributions to vaccine production and the successful lastmile vaccine delivery.

Since 2010, Indian healthcare and lifesciences has attracted $39 billion private capital, fuelling growth from about $70 billion (2010) to $200 billion (2023). Today, the industry stands among the top three recipients of private capital in India. This attractiveness is underpinned by the five macroeconomic aspects: demographics (80 per cent households to be middle class by 2030), dual disease burden (acute and chronic), rising affordability (63 per cent insurance penetration), bridging gaps in infrastructure and positive government initiatives.

Over the next five years, the sector’s private capital flow will likely surge to $35 billion.

The private healthcare sector will continue to play a pivotal role in advancing India’s Universal Health journey through three key levers. Firstly, the private sector’s contribution towards improving healthcare access and bed density by investing over $10 billion over the past decade will continue at an even more hectic pace. There still exists bed shortages requiring several lakh more hospital beds to meet the World Health Organization recommendations. Private health insurance companies along with the government’s PMJAY programme are also working to improve access and bring down India’s high 55 per cent outofpocket health expenditure through product and tech innovation.

Secondly, the private sector continues to be a forerunner of advancements in telemedicine, digital health solutions and innovation to increase local production of medical devices, besides enhancing quality, efficiency and costeffectiveness. Lastly, the private sector has focussed on upskilling of health workers — critical to meet high care standards and ensure wellbeing of patients and professionals.

The journey towards UHC hinges on synergising government and private sector, strengths, leveraging private capital as a catalyst for expertise, innovation and resources that compliment and strengthen the government efforts, ultimately establishing a robust healthcare system for diverse population needs.