Business is being urged to use its resources and expertise in partnership with the public sector to improve sub-Saharan Africa’s weak healthcare systems in a White Paper, From Funding to Action: Strengthening Healthcare Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, launched today by the Global Health Initiative at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town.
Public-Private Mix
Global Health Initiative of the World Economic Forum calls on business to partner with public sector to improve healthcare systems in sub-Saharan Africa
World Economic Forum, 1 June 2006
Winners or losers? Liberalising public services
Rosskam E: International Labour Office, 2006
Public services are being liberalized world wide, opened to foreign service providers, often turned into private services through privatization, commercialization, marketization, and deregulation. Yet the privatization of public services means that many, many people can no longer benefit from such services because they cannot pay, or because they do not belong to the social class for whom the private services are intended. The document discusses how little is known about the changes taking place in services long-considered to be a public "right", or about the widening social disparities that result from liberalization.
Further details: /newsletter/id/31604
Contact: DISTN@ilo.org.
New dispensing structure 'needs attention'
IOL, 16 May 2006
Aspects of the proposed new dispensing-fee structure for pharmacists need more attention, the Pharmaceutical Stakeholders Forum (PSF) said on Tuesday. These included the recent impact analysis of the proposed dispensing fee on community pharmacies, said PSF coordinator Ivan Kotze. The PSF made the comment in a submission on Monday to the Pricing Committee - appointed by Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang under the Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Act to help bring about a more transparent pricing system for medicines in South Africa.
Public-private partnerships reducing malaria in Africa: Partnership for a better life
International Information Programs, 3 May 2006
In sub-Saharan Africa, more than 2 million people die each year as a result of malaria; most victims are pregnant women and children under the age of 5. In Mali, malaria is the Number 1 killer of young children.Insecticide-treated mosquito nets are one of the most effective methods for preventing malaria. Studies conducted since the early 1990s show that their use has decreased severe malaria by 45 percent, premature births by 42 percent and all causes of child mortality by 20 percent. The NetMark Alliance represents a time-limited investment by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to reduce the burden of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa by increasing the commercial supply of insecticide-treated nets.
The public-private mix and reproductive health in Africa
Women’s Health Project, University of the Witwatersrand: Moorman J
Health sector reforms usually involve changes in the organisation and management of health care systems, including a re-examination of the roles of the public and private sectors in the delivery of health care. From a gender perspective there is silence about the unpaid provision of health services in which women in the household and community are the main providers. This silence pervades most of the literature on privatisation.
World Water Day: Water activists turn on the taps and turn up the pressure
Pambazuka News Feature: Bond P
Water, the most precious global resource, was the subject of World Water Day on March 22. This was preceded by the World Water Forum, held between 16-22 March, where officials from 140 countries met to discuss how to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by 2015. Patrick Bond discusses the “water wars” – the battle by activists against the global trend that seeks to turn the delivery of water into a commercial enterprise.
New pricing model has pharmacists worried
Business Day (Johannesburg), 11 March 2006
Having endured months of uncertainty in the wake of protracted legal wrangling over government’s initial proposals on dispensing fees, introduced in April 2004, pharmacists say they are uneasy about the latest model unveiled by the health department on Thursday.
Uganda: Companies scale-up Aids campaigns
Mukombozi R, The Monitor (Kampala), 21 March 2006
Through the theme: "Saving lives, Saving money," Ugandan businesses are being sponsored with modules designed to prevent the spread of HIV/Aids through training programmes and awareness campaigns on better access to ARVs. This presents a detailed argument for the care of employees with HIV/AIDS.
Public-private partnerships. Partnerships for public health
Multi Stakeholder Processes
Public-private partnerships are becoming a popular mode of tackling large, complicated, and expensive public health problems. The idea of partnerships for public health has emerged in national and international policy discussions, in both rich and poor countries. Yet we are still learning about how best to manage these new partnerships, as is discussed in this book.
Private sector options to increase access to medicines for child health
This report, from Rational Pharmaceutical Management (RPM) Plus, examines a number of innovative field interventions to increase access to medicines for child health through the private sector in Tanzania. The first part of the report details a number of programmes and interventions that are currently in operation in Tanzania. These include projects on: shopkeeper interventions; low-interest loans to Accredited Drug Dispensing Outlets (ADDOs); voucher schemes; and microfinance schemes.