Resource Library

Policy: Changing the Environment to Foster Private Sector Delivery of Quality Reproductive Healthcare

At the Commercial Market Strategies (CMS) project, policy is broadly defined to encompass "the environment for sustainable delivery of family planning and other health products and services through the private sector." Policy, therefore, includes both the policy regime — the laws, policy statements, regulations, and procedures on record in a given country — and the policy environment — the real implementation and attitudes that affect the private sector. CMS recognizes that although the government controls some elements of policy, other key actors, such as medical associations or religious leaders, also profoundly affect policy. While the vision of policy at CMS is expansive, our policy activities and interventions focus on achieving those changes that can directly improve the environment for private sector delivery of family planning and reproductive health products and services.