Engaging all health providers through Public-Private Mix (PPM) approaches is essential to reach the millions of people with TB who miss out on access to quality care each year either due to under-reporting or under-diagnosis. This gap has further widened due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other ongoing crisis globally. Health care providers outside the scope of NTPs, indluding the private and informal sector, are often the first point of care for TB patients. However, often these providers are not fully engaged despite evidence from country experiences that demostrate increased detection and good treatment outcomes through PPM approaches. These gaps are more pronounced in high TB burden countries with dominant private healthcare sectors or with large proportion of public healthc providers who are not linked with national TB programmes.

 
As countires move towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and towards reaching the TB-related targets in the Sustainable Development Goals and End TB Strategy, they need to harness the full potential of all care providers (public and private). TB programmes can be pioneers in this area by accelerating the strategic engagement of all health care providers. Access to essential TB services across both the public and private sectors should be ensure especially in emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic and to reach the most vulnerable.
 
The World Health Orgnization (WHO) with partners including the Stop TB Working Group on Public-Private Mix for Tb Care and Prevention (PPM Working Group), is regularly supporting countries, to enhance collaboration between NTPs and diverse public, voluntary, corporate and private health care providers for TB care in different settings. WHO provides the Secretariat for the Working Group, organizes periodic global meetings of the group and leads the development and promotion of global policies, strategies and tools related to PPM expansion.