LOC11:09
08:09 GMT
GENEVA, Nov 23 (KUNA) -- The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
(UNECE) said on Friday that its Executive Secretary and United Nations
Under-Secretary-General Sven Alkalaj, and Dr. Enrique T. Ona, Secretary of
Health of the Republic of the Philippines, signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) establishing the Specialist Public-Private Partnerships
(PPPs) Centre on Health in the Philippines.
On this occasion, Sven Alkalaj declared in a press release "The Centre of
Excellence in Health in the Philippines will be operating under the auspices
of the global Centre of Excellence whose Secretariat is based within UNECE in
Geneva.
With this project, we wish to target specifically the socially and
economically disadvantaged. We want to ensure that by disseminating best
practices from one country to others, the weaker and more vulnerable members
of our societies will benefit."
Dr. T. Ona said: "The signature of this MoU symbolizes the
institutionalization of our long-term relationship with UNECE. It is very
timely in view of the current thrust of our government recognizing the
essential role of the private sector in pursuing national growth and
development objectives. The Centre demonstrates that PPP can be a viable
instrument to bring about infrastructure development in pursuit of our
ambition to achieve universal health care for all Filipinos, especially the
poor."
The NKTI has already introduced successful public-private partnerships that
emerged as a solution to the scarcity of funds to furnish the hospital with
state-of-the-art machines for patients suffering from end-stage renal disease.
The project was undertaken through a long team lease arrangement
(build-operate-transfer) with a private partner so that new and modern
equipment can be acquired and housed under a new centre.
The Specialist Centre on Health is charged with the major task to identify
best practice in PPP in health. By realising this mission, the Centre will
become the global and focal centre on PPP in health sector internationally.
The Philippines will benefit from this as well when shaping its own PPP
programme for the health sector.
The Centre will also help to train government officials in the new skills
required to do PPP in the health sector, such as project management and
private financing, which most governments lack.
The Centre will be operating under the auspices of the UNECE International
Centre of Excellence whose Secretariat is based at UNECE.
The UNECE International Centre will consist of a small hub in Geneva and
Specialist Centres in different countries in the world responsible for
specific sectors (roads, water, waste disposal, renewable energy etc.).
The overall goals of the UNECE PPP International Centre of Excellence are
to: Identify international PPP best practice; Assist governments to implement
best practices successfully; and Encourage shared learning especially between
countries new to PPPs and those with mature PPP programmes.
UNECE welcomes the initiative taken by the Government of Philippines and
anticipates more countries joining the UNECE International PPP Centre of
Excellence and taking a lead in developing Specialist Centres in specific
sectors, which are the priority for their own countries.
Through its International PPP Centre of Excellence and the Specialist
Centre on Health, UNECE will continue to work closely with the Asian
Development Bank and the World Health Organisation, One example of this
successful cooperation was the recent joint conference on Public-Private
Partnership in Health "Developing Models, Ensuring Sustainability:
Perspectives from Asia and Europe", held in Manila, from 23-25 October 2012.
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