Balancing the benefits and risks of public–private partnerships to address the global double burden of malnutrition

Abstract

Objective: Transnational food, beverage and restaurant companies, and their corporate foundations, may be potential collaborators to help address complex public health nutrition challenges. While UN system guidelines are available for private-sector engagement, non-governmental organizations (NGO) have limited guidelines to navigate diverse opportunities and challenges presented by partnering with these companies through public-private partnerships (PPP) to address the global double burden of malnutrition. Design: We conducted a search of electronic databases, UN system websites and grey literature to identify resources about partnerships used to address the global double burden of malnutrition. A narrative summary provides a synthesis of the interdisciplinary literature identified. Results: We describe partnership opportunities, benefits and challenges; and tools and approaches to help NGO engage with the private sector to address global public health nutrition challenges. PPP benefits include: raising the visibility of nutrition and health on policy agendas; mobilizing funds and advocating for research; strengthening food-system processes and delivery systems; facilitating technology transfer; and expanding access to medications, vaccines, healthy food and beverage products, and nutrition assistance during humanitarian crises. PPP challenges include: balancing private commercial interests with public health interests; managing conflicts of interest; ensuring that co-branded activities support healthy products and healthy eating environments; complying with ethical codes of conduct; assessing partnership compatibility; and evaluating partnership outcomes. Conclusions: NGO should adopt a systematic and transparent approach using available tools and processes to maximize benefits and minimize risks of partnering with transnational food, beverage and restaurant companies to effectively target the global double burden of malnutrition.

O risco de parcerias público-privadas em saúde pública pode ser classificado?

“…According to Kraak et al 19 , six challenges should be considered in PPPs in order to diminish the risks resulting from such partnerships in the area of public health: (i) balance between private interests and public health interests; (ii) management of conflicts of interests and biases; (iii) ensure that associations in the use of trademarks support healthy products and environments; (iv) compliance with ethical codes of conduct; (v) due diligence to assess the partnership's compatibility; and (vi) follow-up and evaluation of the partnership's results. Developed countries like the United Kingdom report having succeeded in negotiating targets that have an impact on the population's health, like the partnership with private companies in the food industry and the reduction in salt levels, bringing immediate benefits on blood pressure and the development of non-communicable diseases.…”

“…As long as industry and corporate interests do not override public health interests, such partnerships can be feasible 19 .…”

An accountability framework to promote healthy food environments

“…Several types of voluntary partnerships have emerged to respond to nutrition-related challenges, ranging from undernutrition to obesity and diet-related NCD (38) . These partnerships remain controversial because evidence of their effectiveness to address specific food environment objectives, without undermining public health goals, is lacking (10,(39)(40)(41)(42) .…”

Analysis of a voluntary initiative to reduce sodium in processed and ultra-processed food products in Argentina: the views of public and private sector representatives

“…The benefits and challenges of using a public-private partnership to address health issues have been analyzed in various studies 32,33,34,35 . This qualitative study design aims to contribute to the body of literature and research into decisions in the public health sector regarding voluntary initiatives and PPPs in the prevention of non-communicable diseases, attempting to understand the policy process of PPPs from the stakeholders' perspectives.…”