About the Collaborative – This activity is currently active

Contracting is an essential tool in mixed (public plus private) health systems. The goal of this initiative is to equip participants with the knowledge and skills to take steps towards establishing, improving, or expanding contracting for TB- and other health-related services. Contracting of TB services will be used as an example but with lessons that are broadly applicable across health areas.

The focus will be on contracting with NGOs/CSOs and the for-profit private sector for specific, selected services, using a country’s own procurement system and domestic funds, to increase health system efficiency and effectiveness. The call for expressions of interest (EoI) provides further technical context, and JLN Country Core Groups (CCGs) can apply to participate here. Individuals interested in participating should reach out to their country CCG, or can be referred to their CCG by contacting [email protected].

The year-long program will consist of seven workshops: one virtual launch meeting; five virtual workshops to progress the work; and a mid-point in-person workshop. We envision specific topics or topic groupings on: 1) political will, governance, and making the case for contracting; and 2) legal and regulatory environment for contracting. Development partner support will likely be a sub-theme of both topics. A scoping phase with participating countries will determine the final learning agenda and design of the collaborative.

We will discuss practical actions needed to create the enabling environment for contracting TB- and other health-related services. There is no single pathway that countries ought to follow to establish health services contracting. However, we will be using a primer that provides ideas, useful resources, and questions to consider along this context-specific, opportunistic journey. In between workshops, there will be an opportunity to engage in country pairings and sub-group meetings to go deeper into selected sub-topics.