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Partnerships in Health Development

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown into bold relief the need for an all-of-society response supported by regional and global partnerships to control the epidemic. Addressing the social determinants of health, Universal Health Coverage, the non-communicable disease (NCD) burden, the other communicable diseases and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) all would require a close collaboration among different sectors and stakeholders, including the private sector. Partnerships connote three fundamental themes—a relative equality between the partners, mutual commitment to agreed objectives and mutual benefit for the stakeholders involved. The decisions are made jointly, and roles are not only respected but are also backed by legal and moral rights. The World Health Organization (WHO) has been and continues to be the foremost promoter as well as the host for many of the global and regional partnerships in health. A typological classification would include technical assistance partnerships supporting service access and provision of services including drugs, partnerships focusing on research and development, advocacy and resource mobilisation and financing partnerships mainly to provide funds for definite disease programmes. Partnerships in health have brought and continue to bring multiple benefits to the countries. But they also engender several challenges, including the duplication of effort and waste, high transaction costs (usually to government), issues of accountability and consequent lack of alignment with country priorities. As partnerships become increasingly significant in the twenty-first century, better coordination, particularly in terms of donor harmonisation with national priorities, would be needed. It is not ambitious to attempt the elusive ideal where all parties will benefit from one other with a give and take between all stakeholders. Partnerships in health could well herald a new dawn for health development in the South-East Asia Region.