Resource Library

Report of the Regional Workshop on Building Public-Private Linkages to Advance Priority Health Services in Africa

1.1 ANTECEDENTS TO NETWORK FOR AFRICA AND ADDIS ABABA REGIONAL WORKSHOP The Private Sector Partnerships-One (PSP-One) project and the World Health Organization's Department of Reproductive Health and Research (WHO/RHR) continue to work together in support of increasing access to reproductive health and family planning (RH/FP) through the private health sector in Africa. In December 2006, PSP-One and WHO/RHR co-sponsored a consultation meeting on Public Policy and Reproductive Health Franchising and produced a joint guidance note on the evidence and future direction of private provider networks and franchising of RH/FP services (http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/healthsystems/meeting06.htm). Building on the success of this first policy meeting, the organizations designed a regional workshop focusing on Africa. With funding from the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID's) Repositioning Initiative,1 the PSP-One project is leading a two-year initiative — Network for Africa — that will build public-private linkages to advance universal access to RH in the region. WHO/RHR and PSP-One co-sponsored a regional workshop, held May 7-10, 2008, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as one of the Network's first activities. 1.2 OVERVIEW OF ADDIS ABABA REGIONAL WORKSHOP The purpose of the workshop was to develop national capacity to design and manage partnerships with private sector stakeholders and provide an overview of the selected policy instruments commonly available to Ministries of Health (MOHs) and the public-private partnership (PPP) units. The workshop curriculum was based upon a World Bank Institute course on public policy for the private sector, which was revised for the African context and substantially updated with new information to reflect current trends in private sector provision of health services. Workshop objectives included:

• Developing existing public sector capacity to engage the private sector in the provision of RH/FP and HIV/AIDS-related services in selected Anglophone African countries
• Creating a network for experiential learning across countries on challenges in strengthening PPPs for RH/FP and HIV/AIDS
• Strengthening existing relationships and linkages across priority programs within African MOHs to work effectively with the private sector in support of national health goals (in general) and RH/FP (in particular)
• Identifying key actions and important next steps for participant countries to design, develop, and manage PPPs following the workshop

Participating countries: Teams of MOH officials from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, United Republic of Tanzania, and Uganda attended the Addis workshop. The teams comprised: (i) the RH/FP director, (ii) the HIV/AIDS director, and (iii) the PPP unit director and/or PPP adviser. In addition, several USAID Health, Population and Nutrition (HPN) officers and President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) PPP advisers from these countries attended. (See Annex A for a directory of the participants.) Overview of workshop agenda: The workshop was designed around three thematic areas (See Annex B for a more in-depth discussion of the workshop agenda and methodology.):

1. Making the case for why it is important to work with the private health sector as a means to help address health challenges in RH/FP and HIV/AIDS2.
2. Offering a concise overview of the policy instruments the public sector can utilize to engage and encourage the private health sector to deliver RH/FP and HIV/AIDS services
3. Designing a partnering process while, at the same time, stressing the management and leadership skills required to implement and sustain a PPP