Abstract

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines health as a ‘state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’. Thus, along with physical and mental aspects, another dimension of social well-being is being attached that cannot be ignored. In that context, an important consideration in the provisioning of healthcare is the distribution aspect and how just this distribution is regardless of any socio-economic consideration. The challenge in contemporary healthcare prospect is the structuring of such a framework regarding distribution of healthcare service through which distributive justice is achieved for all citizens. Healthcare having a public good character, it cannot be provided by the private sector on a market-oriented basis at the welfare maximisation level as it will deprive those who are unable to make payments; it makes the case for government provisioning of the service based on equality and just distribution. But the healthcare landscape of the country reveals a picture of undersupply of the service along with continuous withdrawal thereby making provisions for private sector to occupy the space. This has raised a serious question on the equality aspect where everyone should get healthcare service at the time of need. This paper makes an attempt to study how the poor and the disadvantaged sections of the society becomes more and more vulnerable due to inaccessibility to healthcare services in the phase of growing privatisation leading to commercialisation of the service.