Novel partnerships help poor countries extend access to health services

Developing countries that are struggling to provide universal access to health care and meet Millennium Development Goals targets should consider forging new partnerships with mobile phone companies, private consortia, and the voluntary sector, international health and development experts have recommended.

Where traditional public health systems are weak, such partnerships can be the fastest way to provide poor and marginalised groups with essential public health and primary care services, they said at a meeting organised by the Institute for Development Studies at the University of Sussex.

Several innovative initiatives to reach disadvantaged groups in India, Bangladesh, Africa, and Cambodia were presented during the meeting. These underlined the potential of new information technologies and the value of …