Private Sector in the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme: A Study of the Implementation of Private-Public Partnership Strategy in Tamil Nadu and Kerala (India)

During the past one decade, the concept of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) has gained much prominence in healthcare sector in India. The foremost objective of such partnerships has been to improve the accessibility and quality of health care at relatively low costs. To control the spread of Tuberculosis (TB), the World Health Organisation (WHO) has promoted the strategy of Directly Observed Treatment, Short course (DOTS). The Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) which has adopted this strategy since early 1990s has designed several specific schemes for involving the private sector and Non Governmental Organisation (NGOs) across the country. This study aims at analysing the experience of PPP in the RNTCP, with special reference to Tamil Nadu and Kerala two southern states of India. The study suggests that there is vast scope for strengthening the PPP strategy. It argues that policy measures in future should aim to (a) encourage private practitioners accept the treatment regimes prescribed by RNTCP through better information and training (b) involve to a greater extent NGOs and PPs through better incentive mechanisms and (c) improve manpower for better monitoring and supervision of the NGOs/PPs involved in RNTCP. [HEFP Working Paper 03/05]