This book investigates how the forces of globalization and market-driven commercialization fundamentally reshape the relationship between healthcare systems and the individual patient. The authors, a multidisciplinary team of experts in health policy and social science, analyze the shift in healthcare governance from a public service model to a consumer-oriented framework. By examining international policy trends and the erosion of traditional social rights, the text argues that the transformation of the patient into a consumer carries significant implications for equity and access to care.

Experts in the field of health policy identify this work as a critical examination of the neoliberal influence on public health infrastructure. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which serves as a rigorous resource for researchers and policy analysts studying the intersection of global markets and social rights.