Stakeholders

This report presents the consolidated findings from the desk review and the in-country assessment, as well as recommendations for interventions that could strengthen the role private health care providers can play in achieving health sector objectives. [from summary]

The objective of this article was to determine the current practices of private practitioners for the management of STIs in Pulau Pinang, Malaysia, evaluation of pharmacotherapy for STIs in private clinics and to ascertain the management of STIs compared to standard guidelines. [from author]

The goals of the Capacity Project’s Strengthening Health Professional Associations Initiative were: to promote high standards of practice; to help provide the skills for associations to advocate more effectively for the needs of clients and providers;and to form networks among professionals and professional associations. [from author]

This document discusses the outcomes of a qualitative study to describe the knowledge and practices of private clinic and laboratory service providers regarding HIV and HIV counseling and testing.

The study also identifies the characteristics of the stigma that private service providers place on female sex workers, men who have sex with men, people living with HIV/AIDS and describes the experiences of these groups regarding private counseling and testing services. [adapted from executive summary]

This document details the results of a study to determine whether a quality improvement package designed to enable small-scale commercial reproductive health service providers to improve the quality of services provided through self-assessment, action-planning, and supervisors’ support is effective in improving service quality. [adapted from sbatract]

This study seeks to assess the role of private health facilities and pharmacies in HIV/AIDS service delivery in Ethiopia, and specifically to identify factors that could enable greater involvement of this sector in addressing the HIV epidemic.

This report is the result of a rapid assessment conducted to better understand the current and potential market for family planning products and services in the private health sector in Senegal, as well as to provide recommendations to strengthen the private health sector. [adapted from executive summary]

Governments in developing countries are challenged to meet the health needs of their populations because of financial constraints, limited human resources, and weak health infrastructure. The private sector can help expand access to and quality of reproductive health services through its resources, expertise, and infrastructure.

A growing number of international donors are promoting an expansion of private-sector health-care delivery to achieve universal and equitable access. But this paper shows there is an urgent need to reassess the arguments used in favour of scaling-up private-sector provision in poor countries. The evidence shows that prioritising this approach is extremely unlikely to deliver health for poor people. [adapted from author]

The goal of the assessment was to review the quality of HIV care, antiretroviral treatment and tuberculosis services provided in private-for-profits in Uganda in order to generate appropriate recommendations and inform the development of a strategy to improve the quality of those services. [from author]

This article describes issues raised by the deployment of civil servants through the public-private partnership for health to work in private-not-for-profit health facilities in Kibaale region of Uganda. [adapted from abstract]

This presentation was from the “Health Service Delivery in Fragile States for US$ 5 perperson per year: Myth or Reality?” conference. It discusses the limited public sector capacity to deliver priority services in fragile states and the opportunities and challenges of using non-state providers to increase coverage. [adapted from author]

Non-state providers (NSP) of healthcare, whether philanthropic or commercial, exist outside the public sector. Research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found evidence that NSPs provide the majority of primary contacts with the health system in all six countries, except possibly South Africa. [from author]

This brief synthesizes best practices in achieving reproductive health and family planning (RH/FP) goals for the Europe and Eurasia region, and highlights the role of the private sector in meeting these goals. [from author]

The use of private health care providers in low- and middle-income countries is widespread and is the subject of considerable debate. We review here a new model of private primary care provision emerging in South Africa, in which commercial companies provide standardized primary care services at relatively low cost. [from abstract]

In sub-Saharan Africa, the private health sector ranges from traditional healers, pharmacies, and shopkeepers selling health care products, to nonprofit and for-profit clinics and hospitals. There are a variety of reasons people use the private health sector including convenience, perceived quality, confidentiality, or because nothing else is available. Moreover, private health care in sub-Saharan Africa is not just for the rich. Africans of all socioeconomic backgrounds turn to the private sector for their health care needs. [from author]

The global burden of disease falls disproportionately upon the world’s low-income countries, which are often struggling with weak health systems. Both the public and private sector deliver health care in these countries, but the appropriate role for each of these sectors in health system strengthening remains controversial. This debate examines whether the private sector should step up its involvement in the health systems of low-income countries. [from author]

The purpose of this primer is to document and promote best practices gleaned from worldwide experience in training private sector providers. [from introduction]

Irrational drug use is contributed by many factors including care providers giving wrong drug information to patients. Dispensing staff in private pharmacy shops play a significant role in pharmaceutical management and provision of relevant information to clinicians and patients, enhancing the improvement of rational medicine use. This report offers an evaluation/staff assessment of pharmacist knowledge in a situation where they function as health workers in dispensing and prescribing medications. [adapted from introduction]

This report describes three health system developments introduced by the Rwandan government that are improving these barriers to care

This presentation discusses the various aspects of private providers as they pertain to contracting for health services. [from presentation]

The NGO Code of Conduct for Health Systems Strengthening is a response to the recent growth in the number of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) associated with the increase in aid flows to the health sector. It is intended to be used as a tool for service organizations and eventually for funders and host governments. The code serves as a guide to encourage NGO practices that contribute to building public health systems and discourage those that are harmful. [from introduction]

In what areas do the HIV/AIDS donor programs interact with key operational parts of health systems? To answer it, and to better inform the ongoing discussion of AIDS and health systems, the report investigates and compares the donors’ interactions in three countries (Mozambique, Uganda, and Zambia) with three components of health systems: the health information system, the supply chain system for essential medicines, and human resources for health. [from summary] Chapter 4 is dedicated to the HRH aspects of this issue.

This presentation discusses the roles and challenges of private sector midwives and how they can benefit community health care.

The Private Sector Partnerships-One (PSP-One) project fielded an assessment team to document the state of operations for the Biruh Tesfa network, identify strategies to improve network sustainability, and determine local organizations that could have a role in network management and support. In addition the team was asked to explore opportunities to integrate HIV services into the Biruh Tesfa network. [from abstract]

This document is the result of an assessment of the private sector in Nigeria for the provision of reproductive health and family planning products and services. [from abstract]

A study of private-sector immunization services was undertaken to assess scope of practice and quality of care and to identify opportunities for the development of models of collaboration between the public and the private health sector. A questionnaire survey was conducted with health providers at 127 private facili¬ties; clinical practices were directly observed; and a policy forum was held for government representatives, private healthcare providers, and international partners. [from abstract]

This study examines the experience of the Sewa nurse and paramedic franchise in Nepal and assesses whether there were changes in the perceived quality of services approximately one year after the formation of the network. This study also examines the extent to which there was an increase in the use of reproductive health services during this period. [from introduction]

This paper is a systematic literature review on the effectiveness of working with private for-profit providers to reach the poor. [adapted from abstract]

During the 1990s in Kenya, nurse midwives, a new group of private-sector service providers, were licensed to operate private clinics close to communities. The private nurse midwives operate private clinics, nursing and maternity homes primarily in densely populated peri-urban areas, rural trading centers and towns. The networks described in this report emerged out of the need for a sustainable supervision system and a continuing education program for the private nurse midwives. [from introduction]