Mar 24 2021
Building a Roadmap for Systematic Private Sector Engagement in Health

Most health systems in low- and middle-income countries involve the provision of health goods and services from both public and private actors. And in some markets, the private health sector delivers a significant portion of that health impact.

With the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal of achieving universal health coverage by 2030 approaching in the very near future, there is a renewed focus on how to better engage and utilise the private sector to achieve greater health impact at scale.

Research has shown that if current trends continue, up to 5 billion people will still be unable to access health care in 2030, despite the global efforts and programs working towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. A lack of universal access to quality health services has implications beyond human health, and can endanger countries’ long-term economic prospects, making them vulnerable to other risks and shocks.

This means that harnessing the power of the private sector and creating a collaborative environment for governments, organisations, financial institutions, and more to work together towards providing health services is even more crucial, not just for individual countries but for everyone.

While successful approaches to engage the private sector share many common features, “one-size fits all” solutions are rare due to the diversity of health markets and the range of health actors within it. That being said, a successful solution may share some features no matter the location or circumstances.

When strategising how to approach private sector engagement for health, organisations should consider the fit with market needs, their constraints and leverage the core competencies of the many market actors needed to deliver positive health impact.

In the report Building a Roadmap for Systematic Private Sector Engagement in Health, Palladium’s Private Sector Health Team share their six-step roadmap for how governments or organisations can better engage with the private sector to deliver health impact in low-and middle-income countries.

Based on on-the-ground experiences from global health programs that span from supporting Kenya’s Ministry of Health, to developing and launching the Utkrisht, the first development impact bond for maternal and child health in India, the report offers practical guidance for encouraging private sector engagement in the health field.

The six steps provide a roadmap for a rigorous and systematic approach to designing private sector engagement in the health sector that keeps collaborative dialogue with diverse stakeholders, and locally-driven solutions at the heart of programming.


To learn more, download the report or contact anna.gerrard@thepalladiumgroup.com.