Social Entrepreneurship that Facilitates Societal Transformation A Study of Yeshasvini Cooperative Farmers Health Care Scheme

Abstract

Right to good health is also a fundamental human right. Healthcare and well being must be achieved equitably for all. But the achievement of such an equitable access to healthcare for all is prevented by unsolved and newly emerging problems like demographic shift to ageing population, poverty, environmental degradation, economic crisis in many developed countries, and emergence of new types of epidemic diseases and so on. To overcome these unsolved and newly emerging problems and thereby achieving the equitable access to health care for all, governments, public sector organizations and social entrepreneurs have worked together to integrate health and healthcare into their policies. Such an integrated healthcare policy is focused in the present paper i.e.,Yeshasvini Cooperative Farmers Healthcare Scheme, a micro insurance health scheme, launched in 2002 for millions of farmers and their families in Karnataka, belonging to various State Cooperatives, by Government of Karnataka, pioneered by a reputed social entrepreneur Dr.Devi Prasad Shetty and his team at Narayana Hrudayalaya, Bangalore. Under this scheme even poor can avail of top-class health care at a minimal cost. Social entrepreneurs are the change agents, who facilitate for the societal transformation in order to provide benefits to the poor and marginalized populations. The various social entrepreneurs in the private health care sector like Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital of Cardiac Care, Arvind Eye Hospital, Shantha Biotech Lab and Water Health International play an important role in providing healthcare to the poor people.