public vs private healthcare systems in developing countries

From Kabir Sheikh, Head of Health Governance Hub at Public Health Foundation of India:

Sanjay Basu and colleagues recent paper on the performance of public and private healthcare systems is getting a lot of circulation of late. 

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001244 

Basu et al refer to 'heated disputes' on the mertis of public vs private, in the post-recession climate. 

I thought it was worth puling together bits of this debate seemingly triggered by Oxfam's 'Blind Optimism' report. Makes interesting reading... 

1. Oxfam's 'Blind Optimism: challenging the myths about private health care in poor countries': http://www.oxfam.org/policy/bp125-blind-optimism 

2. April Harding's blog post on the Oxfam report: 'Oxfam: this is not how to help the poor': http://blogs.cgdev.org/globalhealth/2009/02/oxfam-this-is-not-how-to-help.php 

a. Oxfam response to Harding blog post: http://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/oxfam-response-to-april-harding-at-cgd-090227.pdf 

b. Comments thread on Harding's blog post worth reading, including this comment from Dave McCoy, comment from Anna Marriott, and response by Harding. http://blogs.cgdev.org/globalhealth/2009/02/oxfam-this-is-not-how-to-help.php#comment-398 

3. Dominic Montagu's letter to BMJ on Oxfam report: 'Oxfam must shed its ideological biases to be taken seriously': http://www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/11/02/oxfam-must-shed-its-ideological-bias-be-taken-seriously 

a. Barbara Stocking (Oxfam) rejoinder 'Critique of Oxfam paper, inaccurate, unconstructive and ideologically biased": http://www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/11/02/critique-oxfam-paper-inaccurate-unconstructive-and-ideologically-biased 

b. Montagu response to rejoinder 'Agreements and disagreements with Oxfam': http://www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/11/02/agreements-and-disagreements-oxfam 

4. World Bank response to Oxfam report http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTHEALTHNUTRITIONANDPOPULATION/0,,contentMDK:22068718~menuPK:282516~pagePK:64020865~piPK:149114~theSitePK:282511,00.html 

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Kabir Sheikh MBBS MPH PHD 

Head, Health Governance Hub 

Public Health Foundation of India +91 9911987670, +91 11 49566000 ext 6183