Dialogues on Primary Healthcare – Episode 03

An initiative by the Centre for Primary Healthcare @BHS and the Centre for Healthcare @IIMU

Dialogues on primary healthcare is a series of conversations, aimed to generate an evidence and experience informed discourse on practice and policy of primary healthcare in India. While there is reasonable evidence that health systems founded on strong primary healthcare are effective, resilient and cost-effective, there is not adequate understanding on how to design and build such systems.

The series will invite speakers who have deep experience of practicing, researching or policymaking on primary healthcare, and its different aspects. They will share evidence and insights from their own research and practice and discuss their implications on larger primary healthcare ecosystem in India.

Episode 3: Public Private Partnership in Primary Healthcare- where does the future lie?

Date: September 20, 2024

Time: 4:30 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.

Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in healthcare can play a key role in developing innovative models and practices for improving public health. In India, PPPs have been attempted in both vertical programs (such as TB) as well as comprehensive primary care (such as running govt. primary healthcare centres). While the scale of such PPPs tends to be relatively small compared to the overall govt. programs, these PPPs have the potential to generate innovative models and methods of providing care in resource constrained environments.

In this episode, drawing up on their research and first-hand experience of running PHCs in PPP mode respectively, Dr Rakesh P.S. and Mr Venkat Chekuri will discuss the past and the future of PPPs.

Speakers:

• Dr Rakesh P.S. is a medical doctor and public health interventionist. Currently he is serving as Deputy Director (Programs) of The International Union against TB & Lung Diseases. He is also a Technical Assistance Consultant at United Nations Office for Project Services, Geneva. He is a Bernard Lown Scholar at Department of Global Health & Population, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, USA and former Medical Consultant in WHO NTEP Technical Support Network, India and consultant to Indian Medical Association for engaging private providers for TB care. He conceived and technically assisted the implementation of STEPS (System for TB Elimination in Private Sector), a low-cost sustainable solution for ensuring standards of TB care to the clients reaching the private sector. His technical assistance has led to attaining TB Free status for the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, first of its kind in a high burden country. He has more than 100 scientific publications in medical journals.
• Mr Venkat Narayana Chekuri: Before joining Karuna Trust, Mr Chekuri worked with Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari.. After initial training, he went to Arunachal Pradesh to be part of the Integrated Tribal Development programme. He worked as the Secretary of the project at the time of leaving the organization in the year 1998. He then joined Dr. Sudarshan in Tribal and Rural Development organisations namely Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra (VGKK) and Karuna Trust. Venkat has worked in different capacities in both organizations and became the Trustee of Karuna Trust in the year 2002. He has been Joint Secretary since 2010.

Moderators:

• Dr Pavitra Mohan is the co-Founder and Director at Basic Healthcare Services. He has worked at UNICEF’s India Country Programme for nine years, leading its child health programs across India. He holds M.B.B.S. and an M.D. in Paediatrics from Delhi University and a master’s degree in public health from the University of North Carolina.
• Prof Vedha Ponnappan is Co-Chair, Centre for Healthcare and Faculty in Marketing Area at the Indian Institute of Management Udaipur.