Perverse Development-Examining German Development Finance Institutions’ Engagement in Private Healthcare Sector in India

Shweta Marathe () and Abhay Shukla ()
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Shweta Marathe: SATHI
Abhay Shukla: SATHI

Development, 2024, vol. 67, issue 1, 100-107

Abstract: Abstract This article examines the role of German Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), focusing on a case study of Indian private hospitals financed by German DFIs, particularly Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (DEG). The study reveals opacity in DEG’s investments with a major reliance on financial intermediaries. Findings suggest that DEG-backed hospitals prioritize commercial goals, compromising clinical autonomy and patient rights. This is accompanied by the denial of care to state-insured patients during the pandemic, favoring ‘paying patients’ over patients covered by public schemes, complaints of medical negligence, and price inflation. DEG’s support to private hospitals seems to fuel the growing commercialization and corporatization of India’s healthcare system. This study identifies a lack of a health system approach, equity, universality, and accountability in DEG’s investments and underscores the need for bilateral reviews, discontinuation of commercial intermediaries and investments in unregulated private hospitals, to enhance the effectiveness of DFI investments.

Keywords: Development finance institutions; DEG; Private hospitals; Corporatization; Equitable healthcare (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1057/s41301-024-00408-4

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