Existence of official policy incentives to stimulate and/or increase private sector financing and/or delivery of family planning/reproductive health services and/or commodities

Existence of official policy incentives to stimulate and/or increase private sector financing and/or delivery of family planning/reproductive health services and/or commodities

Existence of official policy incentives to stimulate and/or increase private sector financing and/or delivery of family planning/reproductive health services and/or commodities

This indicator constitutes a subset of the indicator, Existence of national/subnational or organizational policies or strategic plans adopted that promote equitable and affordable access to high-quality family planning/reproductive health (FP/RH) services and information. It focuses attention on the private sector.

Policy incentives refer to any course of action that facilitates private sector participation in providing RH services. Such incentives may include tax breaks for private sector organizations that provide RH services or for individuals who contribute to NGOs or mission hospitals providing RH, tariff relief, and public vouchers.

Data Requirement(s):

Evidence of policies developed that provide incentives

Actual policy documents with evidence of government approval, or submission for approval.

Governments can hinder private sector participation through several policy barriers. On the other hand, governments cannot mandate private providers to offer FP/RH services. The purpose of this indicator is to measure the extent to which governments facilitate the private sector’s involvement in providing RH services.

Evaluators have limited experience in applying this indicator in developing countries. Tariff relief that exempts contraceptives from import duties is the most widely-practiced policy incentive to private sector service delivery. In South Korea, the family planning program at one time provided vouchers to reimburse private sector physicians for performing voluntary sterilizations and IUD insertions. Indonesia tested a similar voucher system with private midwives, and Nicaragua has tested special vouchers for sex workers. Tax codes may offer deductions for charitable contributions to NGOs. Hence, more data are needed in the application of this indicator.

financing, policy, health system strengthening (HSS), private sector

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