Informing the 'Visible Hand' Defining and Measuring What Governments Do - and Can Do - with Private Health Providers in Africa

Measures of the overall business environment have been around for many years, and the World Bank Group has been at the forefront, for example, with the doing business indicators. But it's a different story when it comes to the environment for private businesses in the social sectors. Indeed, the private sector's role itself is somewhat controversial, making it all the more important to develop a useful definition of effective policy and practice in this area. In 2011, the World Bank and International Finance Corporation, or IFC published a report, healthy partnerships: how governments can engage the private sector to improve health in Africa, which represents a leap forward in our understanding of government performance toward the private health sector, and how to measure and improve that performance. Part of the World Bank Group's health in Africa Initiative, the healthy partnerships report presents a framework for defining, measuring, and reforming how the public and private sectors work together. It makes the indicators not only relevant but also directly helpful to policymakers and to colleagues in the field. This smart lesson shares insight gained while preparing the report.