Berlin, Germany – David de Ferranti, President and Founder of the Results for Development Institute (R4D), delivered the keynote address at KfW Entwicklungsbank’s recent conference, “Making partnerships work for health – focusing on low-income countries: The role of the private sector.” Bringing together renowned experts from Global Health Partnerships (GHP), International Health Partnerships (IHP), governmental institutions, the private sector and nongovernmental organizations, the conference served as a platform to explore and debate how the involvement of the private sector could contribute to more innovative health financing and improved health outcomes in low-income countries. Panels looked more specifically at cooperation and coordination among private and public players to improve national health strategies.
Kicking off the meeting, de Ferranti provided a framework of the issues and challenges of public-private partnerships. In his presentation, “The present role, challenges and future trends for Private Sector Partnerships (PSP) in global health,” he focused on private sector involvement within the context of the economic downturn, growing health expenditures, the emerging trend toward universal coverage, and overall health systems strengthening.
“With profound transformations ahead -- including large potential increases in health spending as GDP increases, and changes in disease patterns, technological options, and health policies-- there must be an emphasis on obtaining not just more money for health, but also more health for the money, as there must also be more attention to ensuring that the power of ideas finds its way into the ideas of those in power. Further, major progress toward universal health coverage is crucial so that poor people everywhere can have affordable access to needed health services.”
De Ferranti also highlighted the important role of governments as a steward of mixed health systems. To view the keynote presentation, please see the Attached Files at the bottom of the page.
