At a time when the private sector is gaining ground in healthcare systems, Viva Salud believes it is essential to defend and promote public healthcare. Why is this? In our report, «Why public healthcare is better,» you will discover:
- Why privatisation triggers increased inequality in access to healthcare
- why privatisation is often more expensive in the long term
- Why privatisation is not more efficient
- why privatisation does not improve quality
- why privatisation leads to a decline in public control
- Why privatisation reduces the availability of healthcare professionals and worsens their working conditions
- what kind of healthcare system we want
- examples of successful civil society campaigns
Health is a right for all. Only a public health system can provide care for everyone, without distinction. A private provider will always seek to maximise its profits by giving priority to patients with the greatest financial means.
Health is not merely the absence of disease. Being healthy means enjoying a state of complete well-being. Prevention and health promotion are crucial to achieving this. However, these areas are of little interest to the private sector, as preventing disease is not as lucrative as treating it.
Public healthcare, on the other hand, is based on the principle of solidarity and financed by the community, enabling it to offer free healthcare. By focusing on prevention, it meets the needs of the community and provides better quality care that is accessible to all.
Making healthcare accessible can have a truly significant impact: in Burundi, for example, since the introduction of free healthcare for pregnant women and children under the age of five, infant mortality has fallen by 431%.
What is more, public healthcare is less expensive and more efficient. By responding to real needs rather than commercial interests, a public system ensures better health for all at a lower cost. Although healthcare spending in Cuba is almost four times lower than in the United States, life expectancy in both countries is similar.
| United States of America | CUBA | |
| Healthcare system | Largely privatised | Entirely public |
| Health expenditure per capita (dollars) (2014)* | 9403 | 2475 |
| Number of doctors per 1,000 inhabitants (2014)** | 2,57 | 7,52 |
| Infant mortality per 1,000 live births (2017)** | 5,7 | 4,1 |
*WHO figures, **World Bank figures
Healthcare must remain a common good guaranteed to all. Viva Salud supports social movements fighting for healthcare for all. They are necessary to make public healthcare a reality.
