Public contracting with civil society organizations for HIV/AIDS service provisions: A key strategy to ending AIDS in Thailand

Abstract

Civil Society organisations (CSOs) play a vital role in supporting HIV/AIDS prevention as they have an advantage over public providers in reaching out and maintaining relationships with key populations (KPs). We assessed the National Health Security Office (NHSO)’s contractual arrangement with CSOs for Reach-Recruit-Test-Treat-Retain (RRTTR) services, identifies gaps and recommends strategies for improvement. Document reviews, in-depth interviews with 31 key informants, and inductive thematic analysis were performed. Stakeholder consultation was convened to validate and improve recommendations. Effective contracting is characterized by (1) engagement with partners in identifying annual targets of KPs in regard to the CSO capacity, budget allocation, term and conditions and clear role of each stakeholder; (2) clear and transparent CSO selection process; (3) pre-award assessment of CSOs’ capacity; (4) effective and timely payments; (5) monitoring and evaluation of CSOs’ performances and support capacity building; and (6) a national project manager designated to manage contracting and performance assessment.

Keywords:

• Financing
• health systems
• key populations
• public health
• contracting
• civil society organisations
• HIV prevention

Acknowledgments

We are very grateful for the funding support from the World Bank, UNAIDS and Thailand Science Research and Innovation (TSRI) for the Senior Research Scholar on Health Policy and System Research (Contract No. RTA6280007). We thank all participants for providing their time and valuable information for this study. We also thank all colleagues for their contribution in reviewing the research report to help improve its quality, including FHI360: Stephen Mills, Sutinee Charoenying, Kanya Benjamaneepairoj, Independent expert: Petchsri Sirinirund NHSO: Rattaphon Triamwichanon, Kantinan Rungtanatada, UNAIDS: Patchara Benjarattanaporn, and World Bank: Sutayut Osornprasop, Nicole Fraser-Hurt, Sarulchana Viriyataveekul.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

T

he study received funding support from the World Bank and UNAIDS. However, the views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the World Bank and UNAIDS.