25 June 2021, by Joy NGUYEN
Public Health is constantly changing, with the pressing needs for improvement of disease control and eradication; research and development; access to information/knowledge; advocacy and health promotion; and advancement of biomedical and digital science and technologies. Given the COVID-19 pandemic and the accelerating transformation of public health, decision makers face the financial, technical resources and expertise burden to implement new approaches.
The need to broaden technical resources and expertise is more apparent now than ever to reach a common goal: to advance the delivery of innovative health services. Strategic partnerships must be prioritized to prepare for the future fight against numerous public health challenges.
Durable partnerships allow organizations to expand advocacy, accelerate knowledge and expertise, as well as ensure better use of resources.
| Strategic partnerships are a long-term investment in which we’re not looking for a vendor to come up with all of the solutions, but for both parties to help each other. |¹
A collective voice of several partners and key stakeholders would resonate more powerfully than any organization attempting to take on an issue single-handedly. When health care partners are united, a more robust message is conveyed – we all need to join hands in improving access, outcome and cost. Building a trusted networks with donors, agencies and other organizations is, therefore, fundamental in tackling public health pressing issues in terms of creating more significant scale and syndication.
Knowledge exchange is a major part of partnerships. Every partnership has an unwavering commitment to spur impactful innovations. Collaborating with other organizations and service providers has become essential as healthcare leaders aim to escalate the quality and scope of their own expertise. Partnerships and affiliations bridge gaps with those who have complementary or supplementary core competencies and expertise. Providing unique insights, technical assistance and expertise enable co-development of solutions, push innovations and advance healthcare.
Coordination between organizations helps to minimize duplication of effort. Alliances foster meaningful interactions that ultimately result in sharing of information on needs, lessons learnt and resources. Integration of activities can lead to more efficient use of health service resources. An agreed partnership vision is the basis of better organization of tasks and effective use of resources for a common goal of advancing health system.
The strength of our partnerships is vital to the success of our work. GaneshAID’s approach is driven by the belief that no standalone organizations can afford to work in isolation in addressing public health challenges. Improving lives in sustainable and measurable ways is possible only when we connect ideas and resources.
Public Health issues are inextricably linked; therefore, the solutions must also be connected with the awareness of big picture. GaneshAID envisions transforming health and immunization systems and services. Through the synergy of our partnerships, we want to reinforce leadership and governance for strong health systems policies and strategies. Implementing strategies also requires skilled and motivated health workforce, high quality of health service delivery, as well as community adopting health behaviours and practices. GaneshAID hopes to supplement our own areas of expertise with that of other partners where necessary.
By partnering with key stakeholders, we hope to bring together like-minded experts across multiple disciplines to address ever-evolving Public Health challenges, especially for regions or countries where resources are scarce like LMIC Africa and Asia Pacific. It is of great importance for every public health partnership to have a connection with the Ministries of Health so that the impacts of the advocacy, evidence-based researches, and strategic planning from various organizations can be implemented using harmonized approach and under the direction of the government. Together, we can derive even greater understanding of how to solve big problems for large populations.
No standalone organizations can afford to work in isolation in tackling Public Health issues. New challenges in public health create new opportunities for partnerships to co-innovate and co-create solutions. Partnerships have a transformational impact in terms of expanding advocacy, accelerating knowledge and expertise, as well as ensuring better use of resources.
What do you think about partnerships in the healthcare sector? Do you think building partnerships between organizations is the key in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic? Let us know in the comment section below!
Sources:
(1): Driving Innovation in Health Care through Strategic Partnerships, Havard Business Review
Copyright GaneshAID 2017
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