As a medical doctor, working in the field of maternal and neonatal health, Dr. Imtiaz Jehan sees public-private partnerships and the challenges related to access to health from a Southern perspective. She shares with us how she believes progress can be made for the public and the private sectors to working together.
Public-Private Mix
Access to Health and Public-Private Partnerships
Krebs V: Geneva Health Forum, 30 August 2006
Private sector 'not the answer to poverty'
Thornton P: Common Dreams Newscenter, 1 September 2006
Rich countries must deliver more money directly to poor nations to avert a growing health and sanitation crisis spreading across the southern hemisphere, according to Oxfam. The global charity said investment in health care, water, sanitation and education must be delivered by governments rather than the private sector. The report condemned the World Bank for forcing privatisation or inappropriate private sector projects on developing countries, and criticised Western governments for signing up to the so-called Washington agenda.
Public not private: Key to ending global poverty
Oxfam / WaterAid Press Release, 1 September 2006
Classrooms with teachers, clinics with nurses, running taps and working toilets: these basic public services are key to ending global poverty, according to a new report from Oxfam and WaterAid. And, the agencies say, only governments are in a position to deliver them on the scale needed to transform the lives of millions living in poverty. The report, “In the Public Interest”, calls on developing country governments to devote a greater proportion of their budgets to building these vital services for their citizens - and for rich countries to support their plans with increased, long-term aid commitment.
Public-Private Partnerships: Beneficial or undermining?
Menichini M: Geneva Health Forum, 30 August 2006
What conditions lead to efficient PPP's? Should we reject PPP's all together? Should governments do more in terms of Research and Development (R&D)? There are no straightforward answers but the speakers at this symposium offered convincing and interesting solutions.
Solving the health equation: Improving public and private contributions to bridge the gap between rich and poor countries
Krebs V: Geneva Health Forum, 3 September 2006
Whether via international bodies or by means of bilateral agreements, nationally or in PPPs, the public sector would continue to play the key role in terms of setting strategy and providing funds for access to health. With a view to ensuring that a larger percentage of public funds actually reach their intended beneficiaries, Dr Gwatkin of the World Bank urged NGOs to undertake monitoring of government and donor programmes in individual countries, stressing that together, "civil society and the public sector comprise a powerful force for change". He also mentioned that he would like to see efforts by international bodies, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) (www.who.int), to make their health and funding statistics more user-friendly as a means of improving grassroots use of them to increase global access to health.
DSA Annual Conference 11 November 2006: The private sector, poverty reduction and international development
Development Studies Association
The Development Studies Association (DSA) one-day conference titled The Private Sector, Poverty Reduction and International Development will take place on November 11th 2006 at the University of Reading. Health-related topics under one of three main conference themes "Business and Finance and Poverty Reduction" include "HIV and Aids: Technical and policy issues for the private sector" and "Government attitudes to the private sector as an engine of growth: policy issues and debate".
Private sector development
International Development Committee, 17 July 2006
This audit report examines the Department for International Development (DFID)'s approach, policies and financing mechanisms in support of private sector development (PSD). Some of the issues covered in the report include understanding private development, enabling investment climates, financing private sector development: public private partnerships, and how the private sector is contributing to development and how donors can support this work.
Building a new public-private partnership for paediatric AIDS treatment
The US President\'s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, March 2006
Earlier this year, the US Government, through President Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, announced an unprecedented public-private partnership to promote scientific and technical discussions on solutions for pediatric HIV treatment, formulations and access. These partnerships seek to capitalise on the current strengths and resources of both innovator and generic pharmaceutical companies, the US Government, as well as multilateral organisations to facilitate the process.
Can working with the private sector increase ART coverage?
England R: DFID Health Resource Centre/ Eldis, 7 July 2006
This paper reviews the experiences of franchising and discusses the opportunities and implications for governments and donors of franchising for HIV and AIDS services. The author details how the private sector can offer huge potential to extend and maintain anti-retroviral therapy (ART) coverage. The author outlines how franchising may offer a way of meeting known challenges and thus, increasing the prospects for universal access to HIV and AIDS services.
Financing and cost-effectiveness analysis of public-private partnerships: Provision of TB treatment in South Africa
Sinanovic E, Kumaranayake L: Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation 4 (11), June 2006
Public-private partnerships (PPP) could be effective in scaling up services. The study estimated cost and cost-effectiveness of different PPP arrangements in the provision of tuberculosis (TB) treatment, and the financing required for the different models from the perspective of the provincial TB programme, provider, and the patient. Where PPPs are tailored to target groups and supported by the public sector, scaling up of effective services could occur at much lower cost than solely relying on public sector models.