Assessing the Commercial Market for Health Care: Bangladesh

This paper presents the details of a USAID program in Bangladesh that assessed the role of the commercial private sector in providing health care products for the underserved population. The goals of the program were to:

• Understand how a market development approach could be used to promote the sustainable delivery of selected health care products to underserved populations;
• Identify opportunities for development programs to support commercial, private sector initiatives in the health care sector of Bangladesh.

The assessment reviewed secondary information, interviewed a variety of market actors, and conducted focus group discussions with leading commercial private sector actors in the value chain. It found that:

• Public sector subsidies to low income market segments have limited commercial private sector participation in the market;
• The following strategies would encourage greater involvement of the private commercial sector in the health market:
  • Avoiding the distortion of markets by subsidies;
  • Using short-term subsidies, combined with private commercial sector contribution to mitigate risks;
  • Coordinating market development strategies in the health care sector with other donors.

The report concludes that sufficient incentives, in the form of acceptable price points, potential for large volume sales, etc., exist for the involvement of the private commercial sector in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of selected health care products in Bangladesh.