Market-based partnerships in health (MBPH) : final evaluation, USAID/India

MBPH aimed to improve the environment for commercial sector engagement in USAID/India’s key priority health areas by forging partnerships between the private and public sectors. MBPH fostered market-based partnerships in: (1) reproductive health, maternal health, and child health, including promotion of good hygiene, such as hand washing; (2) safe water; (3) prevention of indoor air pollution (IAP); and (4) the control of tuberculosis. MBPH, which was operational in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Karnataka, had two primary objectives: (1) build on, implement, institutionalize, and scale-up MBPH models; and (2) explore new commercial-sector opportunities to accelerate public health improvements, especially in base-of-pyramid (BoP) and rural population groups, improving access, demand, and service delivery through health and non-health partners. The program aimed to create and nurture MBPH models that can be brought to scale by commercial partners, government programs, and/or civil society groups. The program also sought to institutionalize local capacity to broker market-based partnerships for health in the future by supporting the establishment of a Center of Excellence. The final evaluation had three purposes: (1) review and analyze the overall program strategies and technical approaches adopted; (2) review and assess the effectiveness of the processes adopted for MBPH innovations, including planning, monitoring, finance, and technical support; and (3) provide recommendations on future directions, especially introducing new and/or continuing approaches for innovations with the private sector. The evaluators found that MBPH project successfully designed, implemented, and evaluated a wide range of private partnerships and initiatives that addressed a number of critical public health issues. In less than four years, and with a modest budget, MPBH made significant progress, building upon previous partnership models and exploring new opportunities to engage commercial private sector partners to test approaches ultimately designed to improve health outcomes for BoP families. The key MBPH achievements are: (1) developed eight partnership models; (2) demonstrated some success in execution, cost sharing, and commitment of partners to scale-up (or at least have scale-up potential) in each model; (3) introduced nine health companies to profitable BoP markets; and (4) leveraged over six million dollars from partners. (Excerpt, modified)