What happens when healthcare becomes a financial asset?

In this episode, Anna Marriott and Dr. Aquina Thulare break down the dangers of health privatization and financialization. They explain how private equity and hedge funds are transforming hospitals into profit machines, putting patient care and public health at risk.

Dr. Aquina Thulare describes how South Africa is fighting back with national health insurance reforms designed to promote equity, solidarity, and universal access to healthcare.

From the lessons of global health crises to local legal battles, this conversation uncovers the human, economic, and political stakes of privatizing healthcare.

If you’d like to learn more about this topic listen to The Sick Development Podcast an EQUALS miniseries dedicated to this issue. 

Dr. Aquina Thulare is a technical advisor in South Africa’s Department of Health, working on National Health Insurance (NHI).

Anna Marriott is an independent health policy advisor and advocate, having led Oxfam’s health influencing work for nearly 19 years. She is the author of several Oxfam reports and policy papers, including Sick Development, which exposed the injustices and human rights violations caused by the financialization of healthcare. 

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