HIGHLIGHTS
- With support, Ethiopia’s private health sector can deliver quality health services to address priority public health concerns
- Abt strengthens the private sector’s capacity to provide quality health services.
- More quality health services are available through the private sector.
PROJECT
Ethiopia Private Health Sector Project (PHSP)
The Challenge
The Ethiopian private health sector is growing in size and scope. Over one-third of Ethiopian health expenditures go to private providers but the quality and availability of private providers’ priority health services is uneven. The government’s plans include an enhanced role for the private sector in delivering priority health services to improve access to tuberculosis, HIV, family planning (FP), maternal, neonatal, child health (MNCH), and malaria programs.
The Approach
Through the USAID-funded Ethiopia Private Health Sector Project (PHSP), Abt works with Ethiopian counterparts to:
- Strengthen capacity to expand and improve the quality of priority public health services private providers deliver
- Strengthen the support and oversight of private providers by government
- Enhance advocacy for engagement of private sector to deliver priority public health services through private sector associations.
Efforts focus on maintaining a favorable and inclusive regulatory environment for quality private health services and applying and enforcing quality standards. PHSP expands Ethiopia’s public-private partnership mix for health services through facilitating partnerships between regional health bureaus and private health providers. Efforts also include creating opportunities for private providers to access financing and strengthening public-private referral networks.
The Results
As a result of PHSP, the country has:
- Expanded private sector provision of quality health services: 862 private health facilities in eight regions and two city administrations added/improved services for tuberculosis, HIV, FP, MNCH and malaria through training, mentoring, and linkage to the public sector for essential commodities and referral networks
- Developed a national Public Private Mix guideline for FP and MNCH services in private health facilities, which the Federal Ministry of Health endorsed
- Delivered FP services to more than 156,400 clients over the life of the project; 64 percent were repeat users, resulting in more than 109,000 couple years protection
- Integrated FP services into over 125 facilities providing HIV, MNCH, and tuberculosis services
- Enabled 42 health facility owners obtained $11.4 million in loans to improve infrastructure and health services through two banks that participated in the Development Credit Authority loan guarantee scheme
- Established 23 temporary malaria treatment clinics in partnership with regional health bureaus and private companies to provide prevention and supported 31 workplace clinics in remote areas that serve more than one million migrant and mobile workers
- Established regional private health facilities associations to advocate private health sector engagement.
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