Public-Private Partnerships In Health

Abstract

Extract: The current importance of public debt requires governments to increasingly shift towards Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). They are long-term contracts of private financing method providing or contributing to public service. The payment is made by the public partner and/or users of the service. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines this type of partnership as ‘‘a means to bring together a set of actors for the common goal of improving the health of populations based on mutually agreed roles and principles.’’ Historically, the principle of PPP was established by the Private Finance Initiative (PFI), launched by the conservative government of John Major in 1992. It was from this moment that this model quickly spread to the rest of the world. In the mid-90s and from Australia, PPP agreement began to become part of the language of governments. In 1997, Labour with Tony Blair leading, strongly developed this management method, first and particularly in hospitals and then, in the entire public sector and spreading to the Royal Navy. Today, 10-15% of British public investments are made using PFI method.