He urged non-health private institutions and corporate institutions to get involved in the health sector PPP initiatives, adding that government was in the process of developing incentive packages for these non-health institutions.

The Minister made the call at a meeting on developing a strategic framework for PPP in health within the ECOWAS region.  The Minister explained that some of the benefits considered included corporate wellness programmes, high visibilities of brand to clients who visited public health facilities and brand endorsement as a strategic partner after successful evaluation.

The programme organised by the West Africa Health Organization (WAHO) with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), was to establish a high level dialogue platform to enable the PPP sectors to communicate and share ideas for sustainable collaboration in the health sector.

Mr Agyemang-Manu urged stakeholders to take into consideration existing laws and regulations in developing strategic framework for PPP in health within the sub-region to avoid factors that impeded the harnessing of full potential of the private sector in health care provision.  He said the development of the framework was critical because there was a strong linkage between health, productivity, economic growth and national development, adding that the benefit of improved health would lead to more productive workforce.

Mrs Rachel Cintron, the Director at the Regional Health Office of USAID, said the outfit had supported WAHO to strengthen its institutional and leadership capacity to improve health delivery within the ECOWAS region.

She explained that the collaboration with WAHO focuses on seeking potential private sector partners and prioritizing private sectors investment to meet a common strategic objective to respond to public health emergencies and current and emerging disease threats in Africa.  “It was our hope that the forum will help establish a broad network of private sector partners with shared interests who will commit resources towards improving the health status of the people of West Africa,” Mrs Cintron.

Dr Xavier Crespin, the Director General of WAHO, noted that the framework would address challenges in the health sector in the region, such as lack of development of human resource, production of local drugs and infrastructure among others.

  He said the forum would provide platform to share ideas on PPP and share ideas on best practices to improve the overall health of the sub-region.