Global public-private health partnerships: lessons learned from ten years of experience and evaluation

Global Health Partnerships (GHPs) have contributed significantly to improved global health outcomes as well as the manner in which global health is governed. Yet in a context of an increasingly complex global health landscape, resource scarcity and a shift from disease-specific to systems strengthening approaches, it is important to continually enhance and apply our understanding of how to improve GHP performance. The authors reviewed and synthesised findings from eight independent evaluations of GHPs as well as research projects conducted by the authors over the past several years, the most recent of which involved semi-structured discussions with 20 'partnership pioneers'. This paper presents the major drivers of the GHP trend, briefly reviews the significant contributions of GHPs to global health and sets out common findings from evaluations of these global health governance instruments. The paper answers the question of how to improve GHP performance with reference to a series of lessons emerging from the past ten years of experience. These lessons cover the following areas: • Value-added and niche orientation • Adequate resourcing of secretariats • Management practices • Governance practices • Ensuring divergent interests are met • Systems strengthening • Continuous self-improvement. These and other critical reflections inform the 'what's next' agenda for GHP development.