Inception report for Philippine Health PPP TA submitted

PRIMEX and lead partner, SMEC International Pty. Ltd. of Australia, have completed and submitted their Inception Report for ADB technical assistance for Public-Private Partnership in Health, Philippines (TA No. 7257-PHI). The report presented the Consultant’s approach and methodology, work plan and deliverables, progress to date and immediate next steps, as well as issues and concerns for ADB consideration. The report incorporates agreements reached at the Project Scoping, Visioning, and Teambuilding (PSVT) Workshop held at Richmonde Hotel in Ortigas Center on 23-24 February 2011.

The TA, piggybacked to the ADB loan-funded Credit for Better Health Care Project (CBHCP) being implemented by the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), is designed to contribute to the improvement of maternal and child health status in selected project sites by 2015. It is expected to result in tested public-private partnership in health (HPPP) modalities with potential to increase the use of maternal and child health referral services in project sites. The TA has three outputs: (i) HPPP modalities developed and promoted; (ii) incentives and operational strategies for PhilHealth accreditation developed; and (iii) monitoring and evaluation (M&E) for the PhilHealth contracting system developed.

The TA consultancy contract between SMEC (in association with PRIMEX) was signed in December 2010, and the consultants were mobilized in mid-January 2011. The TA will be implemented over an 18-month period ending in June 2012.

PRIMEX consultants to this TA include the following: Mr. Pablito M. Villegas, Enterprise Development Expert; Atty. Jose Maria A. Ochave, Legal Expert; Mr. Ronald F. Jabal, Social Marketing Expert; and Dr. Florante P. Magboo, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Specialist. Ms. Elvira C. Ablaza, PRIMEX President and CEO, served as Interim Team Leader from February to March 2011 after the unexpected resignation of their Team Leader. Under her leadership, the PSVT Workshop was organized and conducted, the Inception Report was prepared, and the Inception Workshop and first tripartite meeting were held.