COVID-19 pandemic showed in many settings that the private sector has been key to support the fight against the pandemic, bringing resources, skills and capacities to maximize the national response. At the same time, adverse behaviours and opportunistic practices have also been featured by private actors in the health systems. This highlighted the need for a strong governance of the health system as a whole in order to steward all health actors to behave in accordance with national health principles. WHO Country Connector on Private Sector in Health (CCPSH) aims to to support Member states in employing different governance tools for building resilient health systems that would be able to absorb shocks from acute events such as COVID-19 or prolonged health emergencies such as those experienced in fragile and conflict affected states (FCS)
Drawing on private sector resources is critical as, in many countries, it is a dominant provider of health services, including for the poor. One important tool for increasing capacity in this way is contracting. This primer offers
