Recognising the important yet often undervalued role of PPPs in the veterinary domain, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, founded as OIE), in collaboration with the Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad) and with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has developed several tools to encourage their use, most notably the WOAH PPP Handbook and PPP e-learning courses. The purpose is to help both public and private stakeholders, at the national, regional or global level, to establish effective and sustainable partnerships.

To improve understanding of the variety of PPP options, together with the potential benefits and challenges of such partnerships, the WOAH PPP Database is now open access. To date, it consists of a collection of more than 100 case studies from 76 countries around the world and creates a strong knowledge base for cross-pollination of experiences. This database can also be enriched with users’ own experiences of veterinary PPPs. WOAH’s aim is that the experience gained from these learning journeys will facilitate future public−private partnerships in the animal health arena.

The Organisation is committed to helping governments to make informed decisions about improving access to Veterinary Services and their quality, including, where appropriate, using PPPs as a delivery option. In addition to this, WOAH also encourages a conducive environment for public and private stakeholders, one which promotes the importance and value of working collaboratively. This approach is underscored by the full integration of PPPs in WOAH’s flagship capacity-building programme, the PVS Pathway.

https://doi.org/10.20506/bull.2023.1.3391