Passing the Test: How public and private health services can align to fight COVID-19 - A World Bank blog

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an imperative for governments to quickly increase their capacity to test, trace and treat COVID-19 patients in order to break the chain of transmission and flatten the curve. In doing so, WHO advises governments to take a whole-of-society and whole-of-government approach, working with all actors of health systems, including the private sector. In a recent blog "Passing the Test: How public and private health services can align to fight COVID-19", Karine Bachongy, Paul Da Rita & Luka Voncina underline that "the pandemic response needs to be coordinated and involve all partners—including the private sector and civil society—to mobilize the capacity and resources needed to beat COVID-19". Taking the example of testing -  "a critical tool" in the pandemic response - this blog provides a number of examples showing how countries around the world have engaged their private sector in the fight against COVID-19.