The PPM Working group

In many countries, patients with symptoms of TB, including the very poor, seek and receive care from a wide variety of health care providers - including from outside the network of national TB programme (NTP) services. Recognizing the significance of engaging these providers in addition to the traditional public health sector, in 2000 WHO launched the Public-Private Mix (PPM) approach. This approach encompasses all forms of public-private (between NTP and the private sector), public-public (between NTP and other public sector care providers) and private-private (e.g. between an NGO or a private hospital and the neighborhood private providers) collaboration to ensure provision of TB care in line with international standards. Various subsequent studies have demonstrated the positive contribution of PPM to case detection and cure rates, while reducing the financial burden on poor patients. A review of evidence indicates that PPM initiatives contributed to a 10%-40% increase in case detection . Engaging all care providers through PPM approaches and promoting the International Standards for Tuberculosis Care are now among the core components of the Stop TB Strategy and are acknowledged as essential to meet the TB-related Millennium Development Goals and reach the targets for TB control set out in the Global Plan.

The Working group on Public-Private Mix for TB care and control was established by the Stop TB Partnership's DOTS Expansion Working Group to help develop global policy on PPM and assist countries to develop and implement national policies and guidelines to engage all care providers.

 

Core Group

Membership to the core group is by nomination, election and invitation by the current core group members and secretariat.

  • The major constituencies to be represented on the core group include:
    • National TB Programmes
    • Stop TB technical and donor partners including NGOs, corporate sector and professional associations
    • Representatives from other relevant Stop TB Working Groups
    • Academic/Research institutions
    • Patient/community representatives
  • Membership to be institutional rather than individual (excluding for ad hoc purposes)
  • About a third of the core group members will be replaced every 2 years.
  • Chair will be elected/re-elected every 2 years
  • New nominations will be solicited pro-actively from individuals/institutions that have not applied but have a potential to contribute substantively.
  • WHO Regional Advisors are ex-officio members