Role of Private Health Sector in Provision of Quality Health Service in Developing Countries: Does the Private Health Sector Contribute to Achieve Health-Related MDGs? A Systematic Review

Abstract

The private health sector may be defined as comprising all healthcare providers who exist outside the public sector, whether their aim is philanthropic or commercial, and whose aim is to treat illness or prevent diseases. The existing potential in the private health sector should be exploited well. Governments in low income countries can apply various strategies to work together with the private sector, such as giving training, applying regulatory and participative approaches, resourcing providers, restructuring the market, contracting services, and regulating the market. The main objective of this review is to assess the role of private health facilities in the achievement of health-related millennium development goals (MDGs) in developing countries  Electronic search engines like the PubMed central, DOAJ, Hinari and Google Scholar® were used to search peer reviewed journals, reports and official publications. Words such as “Private health facilities and MDGs”, “MDGs”, “private health sector”, “role of private health facilities and MDGs”, “public–private partnership” were used as keywords while searching. The overall pace of MDGs in developing countries greatly varies from country to country and from indicator to indicator. Private sector providers (PSPs) are often a significant part of the health system in developing countries. Consequently they are an important focus for governments which aim to improve the performance of their health system. However, health services rendered in private health facilities need to be institutionalized. The governance and institutional set up of private health facilities should be given due focus to strengthen the public–private partnership in health. Private health facilities have key role in the achievement of health-related MDGs. Therefore governments in developing nations should redefine their strategies to fully exploit the potential of the private health sector.

Keywords: Private health facilities, MDGs, quality health service, developing countries, public–private partnership

Cite this Article

Weldemariam T, Bayray A. Role of Private Health Sector in Provision of Quality Health Service in Developing Countries: Does the Private Health Sector Contribute to Achieve Health-Related MDGS? A Systematic Review. Research and Reviews: Journal of Immunology. 2015; 5(3):    7–13p.