Anna Marriot, Oxfam International, June 2023. Development finance institutions owned by European governments and the World Bank Group are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on expensive for-profit hospitals in the Global South that block patients from getting care, or bankrupt them, with some even imprisoning patients who cannot afford their bills. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of these same hospitals denied entry to patients suffering from the virus or sold intensive care beds at eyewatering prices to the highest bidder. These development institutions have woefully inadequate safeguards, invest via a complex web of tax-avoiding financial intermediaries, and offer little to zero evidence on the impacts their investments are having. Oxfam is calling on rich European governments and the World Bank Group to immediately halt their spending on for-profit private healthcare, and for an urgent independent investigation to be conducted into all active and historic investments. Read more here.
Sick development: how rich-country governments and World Bank funding to for-profit hospitals causes harm, and why it should be stopped
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One response to “Sick development: how rich-country governments and World Bank funding to for-profit hospitals causes harm, and why it should be stopped”
Thanks for sharing. I am also sharing a similar research recently done by our colleagues in India (SATHI) and PHM India titled ‘Supporting patients or profits? Analysing Engagement of German Developmental Agencies in the Indian Private Healthcare Sector’. This report is based on a study conducted by SATHI, with support from Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, on understanding the landscape and impacts of German Developmental Agencies including German DFIs on the health sector in India.
This report examines the involvement of Development Finance Institutions and Development Cooperation bodies (specifically German Developmental Agencies) in India’s private healthcare sector. It addresses the tension within DFIs’ mandates, balancing profit maximization and expanding public welfare with equity. The study highlights the potential negative effects of relying on private actors in healthcare and the increasing commercialization and corporatization of private healthcare sector due to transnational investments. Focusing on German DFIs and Development Cooperation commitments, the report explores their role in Indian healthcare and its implications for universal health coverage and equity.
For full research report
https://sathicehat.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Final_SATHI_RLS_Report_PDF.pdf
For research brief
https://sathicehat.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/FINAL_research-brief_SATHI.RLS_WEB-VERSION.pdf