Abstract:
Public-Private Partnerships are seen as mechanisms that offer the promise to
strengthen government’s policy implementation capacity and its ability to
deliver services efficiently, effectively, economically and equitably (4Es) to
communities. HIV/AIDS-related problems add to the complexities associated with
building partnerships and networks as it demands a shift towards horizontal and
broader based policy issues that show no respect to boundaries or do not fit neatly
into areas of jurisdiction. Traditional models that described public and private relations
have become obsolete, forcing governments to revisit their role and the type of
outcomes they want to achieve. The symbiotic relationship between the economy,
society, political philosophy and public finances increase the difficulty of finding a
balance between the relative sizes of public and private health sectors steered by
supply and demand functions, against a background of political performance which
focus on finding the correct inputs for political, governmental and administrative
systems to deliver quality outputs.
In this presentation the authors take a critical look at the key issues necessary
to ensure that accountable and fiscal responsible measures are in place when PPP
networks are built in the health care sector. Their views are supported by the outcomes
of a comparative research study that investigates PPP as a mechanism for
public finance management in the macro- and micro-economic planning through
the application of four international case studies. These case studies are benchmarked
against the national situation to identify the best practices and find a best
value for money approach to address the core issues, trends and options available
to HIV/AIDS intervention strategies in South Africa.
