Last Friday, The Hill’s Congress Blog highlighted the innovative ways governments, NGO’s and the private sector are using to aid for global health. Programs like the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and The Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria are not only ensuring that health interventions are getting to the people that need them most, they are helping to promote market growth and drive down prices.

Here’s an excerpt on public-private partnerships from the blog:

“Millions of lives are saved today in developing countries because of bold, innovative financing arrangements over last 10 years. These financing mechanisms are good examples of private sector partnership with public sector for common good.

These financing initiatives have pooled large public sector funding with private sector resources, thus allowing tax payers funds to have much larger impact than would otherwise be possible. Some of the examples are given below.”

USAID’s Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) Program is one such collaboration. In a press statement released last fall, Dr. Ariel Pablos-Mendez, Assistant Administrator for USAID’s Global Health Bureau, states:

“To date, USAID’s NTD program is the largest public-private partnership collaboration in our 50 year history. Over the past six years, USAID has leveraged over $3 billion in donated medicines reflecting one of the most cost effective public health programs. Because of this support, we are beginning to document control and elimination of these diseases in our focus countries and we are on track to meet the 2020 goals.”

To read more about NTDs in national and international public policy, visit the policy section at www.globalnetwork.org.

You can also read about how Sabin in helping countries create sustainable access to immunization financing here.