At the first of project implementation, a launching meeting is organized to articulate the purposes and process of project and engage state and non-state health actors to participate in the project implementation.
At national level, PATH seeks and gains cooperation from national programs. At provincial level, a coordinating team is established to coordinate and facilitate process of project implementation. The teams generally compose of PATH focal persons, staff health department (PHD), Operational District (ODs) and Referral Hospital (RHs). PATH in collaboration with national programs organizes training courses for coordinating members.
With financial support from PATH and technical support from national programs, the trained coordinators identity and engage for-profit private sectors such as private practitioners, pharmacists and drug store owners to form Public Private Network. After the network is established, the coordinators roll out respective training courses for network members. The courses primarily focus on case managements such as recognizing suspected cases, danger signs and where, when and how to refer their clients to public facilities. The private providers are also trained on how to fill the information of suspected tuberculosis, malaria and abortion in the information sheets so that it makes data updated and available for coordinating teams.
The coordinating teams organize supervisions in a regular basis to provide technical supports to private partners. Public-Private Partner network meetings are quarterly organized to provide a platform for public and private providers to update the work progress, discuss and address some challenges encountered during the implementation
Some incentive mechanisms are also developed to encourage participation from private providers in PPM project. A lottery is an example of incentive mechanism to encourage private practitioners to participate in referring severe malaria cases to public health facilities. The lottery event is monthly arranged and the winner (patient, private provider or public provider) is to receive a price such as audiotape, watch or fan, with cost ranging from USD 20 to 30.
