New Vision 28th July 2010
Increasing access to affordable quality health services reduces the impact of diseases and poverty on Africa’s population.
More healthcare facilities are being constructed and equipped through public-private partnerships (PPP).
Health franchising refers to a PPP strategy used by governments and donors to provide essential health services at reduced costs especially in the rural areas in developing countries.
The governments and healthcare donors (franchisers) partner with the private health service pro-viders (franchisees) using this strategy.
Health franchises are used to increase access to quality primary health services, pharmaceutical sales of essential drugs, HIV testing and counselling, and reproductive health services mainly to low income earners.
Health franchising serves the health needs of the poor, and ensures that the franchisees earn a good living, while keeping the costs of operating this healthcare system as low as possible.
LG is another health franchise which is improving livelihoods by providing women with a reliable source of income as private health promoters. LG operates a joint venture with BRAC in Uganda and has a waiting list of multi-national NGOs that are interested in duplicating the LG model in other countries.
Our potential franchisers like Mulago Hospital, Case Clinic, and IHK can take advantage of such potential franchisees to increase access to their quality medical services.
Raising awareness health franchising among our health sector partners will increase access to quality health services in a way that creates more entrepreneurial health service opportunities.
New Vision 28th July 2010
Court summons ex-health ministers
The Anti-Corruption Court yesterday summoned four officials on charges of misappropriating over sh1.6b meant for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI).
The former State House aide Alice Kaboyo and former health ministers Maj. Gen. Jim Muhwezi, Mike Mukula and Dr. Alex Kamugisha are expected to appear in court on August 10.
The summon was issued after Thomas Okot from the office of the Inspector General of Government (IGG) said the four failed to appear in court to answer charges regarding the mismanagement of the GAVI funds.
The Constitutional Court judges in May unanimously ruled that the IGG had powers to prosecute the suspects for corruption, abuse of office, forgery and uttering false documents.
Muhwezi and his co-accused had argued that the IGG could only prosecute cases involving corruption and abuse of office, but not those of forgery and uttering false documents, for which they were also being prosecuted.