Tuberculosis control in rural India: lessons from public-private collaboration.
METHODS
A rural tuberculosis (TB) Unit (population 350 794) in Pune district, Maharashtra State, India.


OBJECTIVE
To develop a 'model' partnership between rural private medical practitioners (PMPs) and the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP).


METHODS
A partnership was developed between 100 PMPs in the study area and the district health and tuberculosis staff through facilitation by a non-governmental organisation (NGO). Participatory research methods were used to plan and implement the partnership. The process of creation and implementation of the partnership was analysed using quantitative and qualitative research methods.


RESULTS
The partnership contributed to 30% of the cases detected in the TB Unit over a 5-month period. Six months after withdrawal of the NGO, referrals from the private sector to the RNTCP were continuing to a lesser extent, but there was a breakdown of the communication and documentation systems.


CONCLUSIONS
The project highlights the importance of organisational and individual commitment to these partnerships, the key roles of the District Health Officer and the District Tuberculosis Officer in guiding and supporting these initiatives from the public sector, the potential role of process and outcome 'indicators' in monitoring partnerships and the important role of NGOs as intermediaries and facilitators.
Rangan
S G
SG
Maharashtra Association of Anthropological Sciences, Centre for Health Research and Development, Pune, India. rangan@vsnl.com
Juvekar
S K
SK
Rasalpurkar
S B
SB
Morankar
S N
SN
Joshi
A N
AN
Porter
J D H
JD
D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000458:organization & administration; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D009313:National Health Programs; D017149:Private Sector; D016730:Program Development; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000517:prevention & control*