The Role of the Private Sector in Reproductive Health Services in Bangladesh

The key actors in Bangladesh's Health, Population and Nutrition Sector Development Program (HPNSDP) are the public sector, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the non-profit private sector, and the for-profit private sector. The public health infrastructure is considered one of the largest in the health sector; RH providers and facilities are available at all levels. Several NGOs are active in Bangladesh's health sector, including international organizations such as CARE, Save the Children and World Vision. Also involved in health delivery are large national NGOs, including BRAC, Concerned Women for Family Planning, and the Grameen Kalyan Health Program, and hundreds of small and local NGOs (Perry 2000). The nongovernmental, the non-profit, and the for-profit private sectors are also engaged in the procurement and distribution of selected drugs and healthcare products targeting beneficiary groups in Bangladesh. For example, the Social Marketing Company (SMC) of Bangladesh is a pioneer in manufacturing oral rehydration solution (ORS), in distributing and marketing public health products such as oral contraceptives, condoms, and injectable, and in using for-profit channels to market its own brand of products in Bangladesh. The private health sector in Bangladesh includes large and small for-profit companies, professionals such as doctors and individual providers, and informal unqualified health providers, including shopkeepers. The private sector provides health services at hospitals, nursing and maternity homes, at clinics run by doctors, nurses, midwives, and paramedical workers, and at diagnostic facilities, for example laboratories and radiology units. The private sector also sells drugs from pharmacies and unqualified static and itinerant drug sellers, including from general stores (Bangladesh Health Watch, 2008).