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Policy Lessons Learned in Finance and Private Sector Participation

This paper examines lessons learned in USAID's OPTIONS and POLICY projects, both of which have worked extensively in developing countries to foster private sector involvement in family planning and reproductive health care. It presents lessons learned during implementation of these activities and emphasizes ways to strengthen the policy climate and plan for service expansion. Following a general discussion of lessons learned, the paper includes examples from 11 countries that describe efforts to remove impediments to private sector participation and effective health care financing. The issues range from taxation of imported commodities in the Philippines to divestiture of contraceptive brands in Jamaica to market segmentation in Egypt. In sum, the country examples illustrate the steps governments can take to ensure adequate financing of their programs, use their resources efficiently, and tap the extensive resources of the private sector.