A blog post about R4D's April 2010 panel discussion “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: The Private Sector’s Role in Health,” made the Global Health Council’s Blog4GlobalHealth top 10 blogs of 2010, coming in at #4. The session was part of R4D’s series “New Visions for Improving Global Health in Developing Countries.”

To see the top 10 Global Health Council blog posts on Blog4GlobalHealth click here:

Read R4D’s blog post “Harnessing the Private Sector in Developing Countries".

Strong health systems tend to involve both public and private actors but some observers suggest that private participation does little to improve health care access, and can even worsen it. Others argue that, if armed with the appropriate information, policy makers can create incentives for the private sector to help meet the public's overall health goals and complement public programs. This panel discussed fresh information and perspectives on the role played by the private sector and its potential value for national health systems, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa. The session was moderated by Gina Lagomarsino, R4D Managing Director.

Panelists included, Connor P. Spreng, Economist, World Bank Group Investment Climate Department; Marty Makinen, Managing Director, Results for Development Institute; Lily Dorment, Associate, Rockefeller Foundation; Shyami de Silva, Private Sector Advisor, Office of HIV/AIDS, Bureau for Global Health, U.S. Agency for International Development.

As more and more countries scale up health financing reforms in the face of overarching resource constraints, the session offered a good lesson: the private sector is an existing resource which can complement the public sector. If governments practice sound stewardship in addition to maintaining their public health services and development partners continue to recognize the potential of private providers, then the private and public sectors can operate in tandem, achieving the best health outcomes for the most people possible.