The Department of Health of the Government of the Philippines working with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and other agencies has taken an initiative to establish an International Specialist Centre on Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in Health. PPPs are becoming an increasingly important response to the rising costs in medical care, the growing incidence of chronic diseases and the introduction of new technologies for medical treatment. However, while many Governments are interested in such innovative financing models, there was to date no single agency providing information about PPPs in health and best practice.
Speaking about the Centre, Dr Enrique T. Ona, Minister of Health of the Philippines said: “It is an opportunity for the country to showcase some of our successes in PPPs and it will receive global recognition as a centre for PPP, especially as the UNECE has the capacity to make it known to the rest of the world. This partnership will go forward and we are indeed very happy, honoured and at the same time privileged to set up this specialist centre for health in this part of the world”
The launch of this Centre took place at an International Conference on “Developing Models, Ensuring Sustainability: Perspectives from Europe and Asia,” which was held at the Headquarters of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila, the Philippines, from 23 - 25 October 2012. The event was co-organized by the UNECE, ADB, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Department of Health of the Philippines, the Development Bank of the Philippines, the Philippines Health Insurance Corporation and a number of other key stakeholders in PPP in health. It was the first regional event in PPPs in Health held in the Philippines and attracted around 250 participants, including top level speakers and experts from all over the world.
The Centre when fully operational will:
- Identify best practice in the design and implementation of PPPs in the health sector;
- Prepare and disseminate actual PPP case studies, including information on contracts and the financial arrangements;
- Strengthen in the medium and long term PPP capacity building amongst government officials; and
- Establish a knowledge management platform to improve the evaluation of PPP projects in health and their replicability specifically through the feedback of end users.
The event itself, which was opened by Mr Stephen Grott, Vice-President of the Asian Development Bank, and Dr. Enrique T. Ona, on behalf of the President of the Philippines:
- Showcased salient case studies and best practices from Europe and Asia;
- Discussed the key barriers to promoting successful PPPs;
- Identified some of the PPP models in health care that are most appropriate for developing and transition economies.
For more information, please contact: Tony Bonnici ([email protected])