Abstract:
Background
Public-Private-Partnership-supported health facilities have been operational in
Tanzania, and specifically, in Kilimanjaro since 1990s. This study provides a snapshot
of the contribution of PPP-supported health facilities’ operations towards attainment
of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Kilimanjaro region.
Methods
Adopting a cross-sectional research design, samples of 384 households and 30 health
facilities were selected through a multi-stage and purposive sampling approaches,
respectively. Questionnaires and key informant interviews (KIIs) were administered
(June 2020 - February 2021). Using IBM-SPSS v.23, chi-square was used to
compare PPP-supported and government health facilities’ service delivery quality and
affordability. Content analysis was done on KIIs.
Results
With PPP-support unweighted mean index score for service availability (SA) was
46.59% and 29.14% without PPP-supported health facilities. With PPP-support, the
GSR index score was 87% while it was 82% without PPP-support. This implies, with
PPP-support, progress towards UHC attainment can be accelerated. There was no
significant association between accessing services in PPP-supported or government
health facilities by perceived service delivery quality and service affordability.
Conclusion
PPP-supported and government health facilities co-existence is essential at hastening
the progress towards UHC in the study area. The government should strengthen policies
and regulations to promote more PPPs in improving health facilities’ operations.
