Philippines is looking at decentralizing the healthcare system to reach out to remote areas in an effective manner, but it has its own disadvantages as the system gets influenced by politics and healthcare service loses in priority. In most of these countries, health is a problem but it is never the priority and budget allocation is never enough to provide quality services. "Philippines has allocated a fund towards public private partnership. The nation is working with different private organizations to utilize it more effectively," says Mr Nemesio Gako, assistant secretary of Health, Department of Health, Philippines.

Clash of interests

There are, however, issues in involving the private sector. There is always the threat of public good losing priority over profit. "The challenge that the public sector faces in partnering with private companies is that the prime intention of the private partners remains profitability from a deal, which is not alwas possible in the case of healthcare services," says Mr Gako of Department of Health, Philippines.

Indonesia also faces a similar dilemma. Ms Nila Moeloek, special envoy of the President of Indonesia on Millennium Development Goals, Indonesia, says the country encourages PPPs but the intention of private bodies is often profit, which clashes with the government's interest. "The private bodies must act passionately to educate and provide primary care to people for the prevention of diseases. Getting benefits should not be the only agenda," says Ms Moeloek.

PwC says PPPs can be used to construct or upgrade facilities across the entire care network, adding to the much-needed capacity and raising quality. They also have the potential to fund a broader range of clinical services that stretch a long way beyond infrastructure to bring efficiency and additional capacity to the system.

Also, these countries is to build a sound regulatory framework, have a fair and transparent bidding process, have a reliable health insurance scheme and ensure an adequate supply of well-trained doctors and nurses. All these components can help in attracting investors and fuel funding for the system.