Coproduction in developing countries: The case of National Programme for Family Planning & Primary Health Care

Co-production in the delivery of public services and especially in the health sector is being widely researched. Recent decades have seen a marked increase in coproduction initiatives not only in the developed world (Bovaird... [ view full abstract ]

Co-production in the delivery of public services and especially in the health sector is being widely researched. Recent decades have seen a marked increase in coproduction initiatives not only in the developed world (Bovaird et al., 2012) but also in the developing countries (Cepiku & Giordano, 2013). The use of community workers to provide some basic health services has been reported in literature since long. This paper evaluates the National programme of Family Planning & Primary Health Care in Pakistan. Community Health Workers (called Lady Health Workers in this instance) are recruited, trained and sent to their communities to advise their communities on family planning and other related primary health care issues. This not only improves access but also has significantly improved the maternal and neonatal health indicators of areas served by such workers. This paper evaluates the programme in light of the coproduction literature and provides a contextual and theoretical explain of coproduction reforms in developing countries.