PPHI Balochistan

The PPHI Balochistan was established in 2006-2007. The country launched a “Primary Health Care Model 1999” (later known as PPHI) in district Rahim Yar Khan in 2003 on pilot basis which was an instant success. This not only reinforced the government’s confidence in the effectiveness of the project, but also gave it a hope that the ailing PHC sector could be reinvigorated through a partnership arrangement. In the following years, the government began contracting out the management and execution of primary health services to the People’s Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI). The 18th Constitutional amendment enhanced provincial autonomy by transferring, among other things, the subject of health to the provinces. Having the health sector in its purview and considering PPHI’s previous performance, the Government of Balochistan decided to renew the agreement with PPHI-B for delivery of primary healthcare services. So far, over 913 Basic Health Units and Health Facilities BHUs/HFs across thirty-three districts of Balochistan have been taken over by PPHI-B under the renewed agreement. PPHI Balochistan now operates as a not-for-profit registered company with an eminent Board of Directors. Public-private partnerships are increasingly seen as playing a critical role in improving the performance of health systems worldwide, by bringing together the best characteristics of the public and private sectors to improve efficiency, quality, innovation, and health impact of both private and public systems. Yet, we also know that while partnerships can be an effective force toward achieving these results, they are not a magic solution to the many problems that now faced by health systems in Balochistan and countrywide. If partnerships are to be effective in addressing the issues of poverty reduction and equity, quality improvement, and cost containment, considerable work will need to be done to develop the accountability and transparency, the legal and regulatory framework, and the mutual trust that is necessary for partnerships to succeed.