USAID India sponsors Conference on Market-Based Solutions for Health

New Delhi | May 4, 2012

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) today hosted a conference, which brought together private sector corporations, investors, donors, government officials, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to explore the potential for market-based solutions to improve public health for vulnerable people.  At the "Health Confluence 2012 - Emerging Markets: Innovative Solutions," USAID showcased innovations from its Market-based Partnerships for Health (MBPH) project as well as other business models that have been successful in meeting the challenges associated with effectively and profitably reaching lower income and rural consumers.

USAID's MBPH project has designed and implemented a number of commercially viable business models through partnerships with the private sector on a range of public health issues, including family planning, reproductive health, maternal and child health, tuberculosis, hygiene promotion, water and indoor air pollution.
           
During his keynote address, USAID Mission Director William Hammink said, "Business motives and development are not mutually exclusive.  Indeed they can work hand in hand to make development scalable and efficient. Our Market-based Partnerships for Health program is a great example of how solutions for development challenges can be successfully addressed through private sector partnerships and game-changing innovations in health systems and service delivery. We hope the models tested in this project will encourage more private sector companies to examine these approaches and stimulate new ideas."

The Health Confluence 2012 provided an opportunity for a wide range of stakeholders to discuss innovative market-based models for health and to set the stage for forging new alliances.  Leading practitioners of market-based solutions from the Monitor Group, Swasti Health Resource Center, Abbot, ITC-ABD, Novartis, Pfizer, Tata Chemicals, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Packard Foundation, and the Clinton Health Access Initiative discussed their experiences providing information, products and service to some of the poorest communities in India.