Most Indians dependent on private healthcare: Study

Households across India still overwhelmingly depend on private providers for healthcare services over public healthcare, a recent study has found.

Senior Fellow at Brookings India, Shamika Ravi, found in her study"Health and Morbidity in India: 2004-2014" that as much as 75 per cent of outpatient (OPD) care in India was exclusively private in 2014.

Around 55 per cent of inpatient (IPD) care is from private hospitals, it added.

Ravi, however, noted that dependence on private healthcare is declining.

"Indian households" dependence on public care has risen by 6 per cent for OPD care and by 7 per cent for IPD care," she said.

The study based on analysis of National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) data was released at Teen Murti House here followed by a panel discussion on "Health and Morbidity in India: Evidence and Policy Implications".

The study is co-authored by Rahul Ahluwalia and Sofi Bergkvist.

Ravi added that "out of pocket" spending has risen significantly between 2004 and 2014, driven primarily by increase in IPD spending.

"There are large disparities across rural and urban households in terms of real out of pocket expenses for IPD such as doctor's fees, medicines and diagnostics.

"Compared to a rural household, an urban household spends five times more on diagnostics, 2.6 times more on medicines and 2.4 times more on doctors" fees," she said.