The Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government and the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) are exploring various private-public partnership models to revamp the sagging state healthcare delivery system.

“The basic idea is to involve top-notch private players in the health industry, including super-speciality hospitals, to chip in and provide healthcare to the common man at an affordable price,” a health department official said.

The partnership models will be discussed at the three-day Health and Lifestyle Show, 2006, being organised by the BCCI, in association with the government, Calcutta Municipal Corporation and The Telegraph. The Show starts on October 27.

Elaborating on the public-private partnership, Amit Ghose, chairman of the BCCI’s health sub-committee, said the state had witnessed an impressive growth in the private healthcare industry since 1995, but the boom has been driven by commercial considerations that did not take into account the need for serving the common people.

“Commercial viability has always been the prerogative of the private healthcare sector. The service factor was never considered. We are trying to bring the focus back on the community,” he pointed out.

Principal secretary (health) Kalyan Bagchi said: “We will have to identify areas where the public and private sectors can cooperate to the benefit of the common man.”

Citing an example of public-private partnership, Bagchi said the government did not have enough funds to instal the sophisticated gadgets for CT Scan or MRI. Private entrepreneurs in the health sector were asked to set up the units at two government hospitals.

“They are providing the services at government-specified rates that are affordable for the common man. The investors, too, are having a steady stream of patients. It’s a win-win case,” Bagchi explained.

The Health and Lifestyle Show 2006 will include a number of events, including exhibitions, dissemination of information and health check-up sessions. The cardiac check-up will be conducted by RIIC, gastro check-up by Peerless Hospital, blood pressure check-up by CARE Hospital, and Diabetic check-up by Woodlands Hospital and ROCHE.