Story of a Successful Public-Private Partnership in Central America: Handwashing for Diarrheal Disease Prevention

The document describes an initiative of the Basic Support for Child Survival Project (BASICS II) and the Environmental Health Project (EHP-BASICS) that brought together soap companies, government ministries, international donor organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and the media in three Central American countries, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Costa Rica to promote handwashing with soap to prevent diarrhoeal disease.

The experience documented in this publication illustrates that public-private partnerships can achieve positive public health results. The results of the initiative include improvements in handwashing behaviour associated with reductions in diarrhoeal disease, leveraging of significant additional resources for public health, and sustained involvement of private-sector partners in public health promotion. The publication also describes essential elements required in forming public-private partnerships, discusses lessons learned from the experience in Central America, and outlines key steps for replication. It aims to provide enough information to help readers decide whether the EHP-BASICS approach might enhance their programmes.