Health Systems Assessment Approach: A How-To Manual - PHRplus

Chapter 1. Health Systems Strengthening: An Introduction
In practice, decentralization efforts have had mixed results. HSS seeks to assist countries to
implement decentralization more effectively by—
• Clarifying new roles
• Aligning resource allocation with responsibility
• Building capacity at decentralized levels so staff can absorb new responsibilities
• Building capacity at the central level in its new role of policy formulation, regulation, and
performance monitoring
1.5.2 Private Sector
The private sector is a key source of health services, and its coverage is rapidly increasing. (See
Box 1.2) Use of government health services is too low to affect indicators such as child mortality
without the contributions of private sector health services, including NGO services (WHO 2003).
Information from the Multi-Country Evaluation of Integrated Management of Childhood Illness
has shown that IMCI must be adopted by private sector health services, in addition to
government health services, to achieve a reduction in child mortality in some countries.
The private health sector is typically defined to comprise “all providers who exist outside of the
public sector, whether their aim is philanthropic or commercial, and whose aim is to treat illness
or prevent disease” (Mills and others 2002). Private sector actors include the following—
• Private providers including for-profit (commercial) and nonprofit formal health care
providers (private hospitals, health centers, and clinics) and traditional and informal
practitioners, including traditional midwives and healers
• Community-based organizations and civil society groups that do not directly provide
health services, but provide
complementary or related
Box 1.2
Evidence of the Role of the Private Sector
services such as advocacy
groups, voluntary support
groups, and communitybased
health insurance
schemes
• Wholesalers and retailers of
health or health-related
commodities such as
medicines, oral rehydration
solution (ORS), insecticidetreated
nets, and
contraceptive supplies;
retailers may range from
pharmacies with qualified
Review of Demographic and Health Survey data from
38 countries shows that 34 to 96 percent of children in
the poorest income quintile who seek treatment for
diarrhea, and 37 to 99 percent of children who seek
care for acute respiratory tract infection receive that
care in the private sector.
In India, the private sector distributes 65 to 70 percent
of the oral rehydration solution used in the country.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the majority of malaria
episodes are initially treated by private providers,
mainly through the purchase of medicines from shops
and peddlers.
Source: Bustreo and others (2003)
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