1 PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP IN HEALTH. WHAT IS ITS EFFECT ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE HEALTH SECTOR? Daniele Giusti, MD DTM&H MPH, Peter Lochoro, MB ChB MHSM, Andrea Mandelli, BA Economics Abstract There is an increasing awareness that public funding of private health institutions, albeit limited, should be justified by clear returns for the system. The Government of Uganda has provided subsidies to PNFP Hospitals since 1997/98. Hence the question: what is the effect of public private partnership on the performance of the sector? The following questions were posed: what kind of evidence exists that access has increased, that quality is improving and that provision of public health services has increased? Data from all 27 UCMB Hospitals were obtained and analysed retrospectively for the years 1995/96 to 2000/01. The findings show that the provision of Government subsidies has allowed these Hospitals to preserve their function against a deepening crisis, to improve access to patients (both in terms of increased utilisation and decreased fees), to improve the quality of services and increase the volume of public health activities. It is possible to state that a large proportion of the Hospitals in the PNFP sub-sector is positively responding to the support received, is honouring the commitments it had taken and is giving a positive contribution to the performance of the Country’s health sector. 31.1.2002