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Building Support for Public Private Partnerships for Health Service Delivery in Africa: A Communication Strategy

Research suggests that much of health service delivery in Africa is focused on the public sector, even though there is evidence suggesting that much money is being spent by populations on private sector services. This would mean that the health sector is not being considered in its entirety and progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will be difficult to achieve. Public-private partnerships in health offer a way to ensure that monies being spent are utilized in the most efficient way for the best possible care, while bringing innovation, management expertise and delivery capabilities to limited resources. In this context, the World Bank published a report titled "Trends and Opportunities in Public-Private Partnerships to Improve Health Service Delivery in Africa" by T. Marek, C. O'Farrell, C. Yamamoto, and I. Zable, Africa Region Human Development, Working Paper Series Number 93, 2005 which presents the research in further detail. The World Bank also commissioned the Center for Development Communication (CDC) to develop this communication strategy to call attention to these partnerships and help boost them in Africa.