The privatisation of healthcare system in Bangladesh

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that triggered the privatisation of Bangladesh’s health sector.

Design/methodology/approach

This study follows systematic reviews in its undertaking and is based on an extensive review of both published and unpublished documents. Different search engines and databases were used to collect the materials. The study takes into account of various research publications, journal articles, government reports, policy and planning documents, relevant press reports/articles, and reports and discussion papers from the World Health Organization, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

Findings

While Bangladesh’s healthcare sector has undergone an increasing trend towards privatisation, this move has limited benefits on the overall improvement in the health of the people of Bangladesh. The public sector should remain vital, and the government must remobilise it to provide better provision of healthcare.

Research limitations/implications

The paper focusses only on the public policy aspect of privatisation in healthcare of a country.

Practical implications

The paper examines the issue of privatisation of healthcare and concludes that privatisation not only makes services more expensive, but also diminishes equity and accountability in the provision of services. The study, first, makes a spate of observations on improving public healthcare resources, which can be of value to key decision makers and stakeholders in the healthcare sector. It also discourages the move towards private sector interventions.

Originality/value

This study is an independent explanation of a country’s healthcare system. Lesson learned from this study could also be used for developing public policy in similar socio-economic contexts.

Citation

Rahman, R. (2019), "The privatisation of healthcare system in Bangladesh", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 32 No. 1, pp. 97-107. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHCQA-11-2017-0217