| The last decade has been witness to the giant | | | | healthcare facilities are owned and run by |
| strides taken by the Indian healthcare scenario, | | | | for-profit companies and non-profit or charitable |
| towards modernization and development- gone | | | | organizations. |
| are the days when those who could afford it had | | | | In the earlier era, the high custom duties imposed |
| to travel abroad to get highly specialized services | | | | by the government on imported medical |
| such as cardiac surgery, while others had to do | | | | equipment was a big deterrent to set up private |
| without it. | | | | hospitals offering specialised medical care using |
| Today, patients from the developed Western | | | | state of the art equipment, usually imported from |
| nations are coming to India to receive specialized | | | | abroad. As a result, there were very few |
| medical treatment. Not only is India meeting | | | | privately run large hospitals but there were many |
| international standards, but at prices that compare | | | | small private practitioners who provided primary |
| very favorably with developed countries. | | | | and secondary care. |
| In India, healthcare is delivered through both the | | | | The low level of medical insurance was another |
| public healthcare system and the private sector. | | | | major problem faced by the private hospitals - |
| The public healthcare system consists of | | | | not having insurance meant that the patients had |
| healthcare facilities run by the central and state | | | | to pay for the treatment from their own pockets |
| governments, which provide services free of cost | | | | and not everyone could afford the high costs of |
| or at subsidized rates to low-income families in | | | | private healthcare. |
| rural and urban areas. In the private sector, | | | | |