206695 Saving maternal lives: Finance and delivery strategies for resource-poor settings

Monday, November 9, 2009: 9:30 AM

Ndola Prata, MD, MSc , The Bixby Center for Population, Health and Sustainability, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Amita Sreenivas, MPH , The Bixby Center for Population, Health and Sustainability, School of Public Health, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Background: Prata et al. (2008, published in HPP), identified three interventions that would have the greatest potential for reducing the number of maternal deaths in developing countries―(i) contraception, (ii) safe abortion, and (iii) misoprostol. To delivery these interventions in resource-poor settings requires innovative strategies and public-private partnerships for financing mechanisms to protect the poor. Today, the poor are increasingly reliant upon the private sector for healthcare due to lack of human and financial capacity of the public sector to ensure the availability and quality of health services. Therefore, it is imperative that the finance and delivery of these three priority interventions engage the private sector to reach the poor most effectively. Methods: An extensive literature review was conducted to identify financing and delivery strategies that utilize the private sector through public-private partnerships and show an impact on improving health access among the poor. Results: Five strategies were found to be cost-effective, successful public-private sector engagements with the greatest potential for improving access to the three priority safe motherhood interventions: social marketing, community-based distribution of socially-marketed goods, social franchising, contracting, and performance-based assistance. Social marketing and community-based distribution are appropriate avenues to increase availability and access for contraception and misoprostol. Both of these interventions and safe abortion services can be financed and delivered through social franchise networks, public contracting of private providers, and performance-based assistance strategies for public facilities. Conclusions: In order scale up the three recommended safe motherhood interventions in resource-poor settings, public-private partnerships are needed. Such strategies include social marketing, social franchising, contracting and community-based distribution.

Learning Objectives:
Describe five finance and delivery strategies for the dissemination and scale-up of three previously identified priority interventions to reduce maternal deaths in developing countries.

Keywords: Service Delivery, Financing

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Responsible for collection of literature, outline, and writing of this manuscript. Assisting professors at UC Berkeley in teaching "Private Sector Health Services in Developing Countries". Work as an Associate Specialist in maternal health at the Bixby Center for Population, Health, and Sustainability at UC Berkeley. MPH Graduate from UC Berkeley in International Maternal Health.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.