Establishment of minimum standards and norms aimed at regulating the private health sector 490. The private practice of health professions is regulated by Law No. 98-016 of 15 June 1998 on authorization of private practice in the health sector together with its implementing decree No. 98329/PRN/MSP of 19 November 1998. These statutes have significantly contributed to the promotion of private sector health activities. In view of the growth of the health sector, this law has a number of gaps including, among others: - Inadequate inclusion of certain specialised areas in the sector; - Non-implementation of guidelines of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) regarding private health professional practice; - Lack of regulatory provisions regarding the special tax regime and the benefit of subsidies; - Lack of clarity in the conditions governing the opening and operation of private health establishments by legal entities, in particular NGOs/Associations; - Lack of harmonization concerning pricing in the private health sector. 491. In order to correct the gaps identified, the Ministry of Health has embarked on a review of the laws and supplemented the legal arsenal with new ones. These laws are currently going through the processes for adoption. The adoption of new texts will help to: - Establish norms and standards in order to better regulate the private sector; - Define the bases of fruitful collaboration between the public and private sectors; - Harmonize the setting of prevailing prices; - Extend the regulation to all specialties in the health sector; - Establish consistency in the guidelines for sub-regional integration of ECOWAS and UEMOA; - Institute incentives for stakeholders in the private health sector; - Clarify the conditions for private practice by legal entities, particularly by NGOs and Associations. XIII. RIGHT TO EDUCATION Increase the budget allocated to the higher education sector in order to address the challenges faced, in particular relating to the issue of university halls of residence, the lack of teaching staff and inadequate teaching infrastructure. 492. In recent years, the higher education system has been confronted with deep crises relating to the combination of several factors, including the high increase in the number of students, high attrition rates, the stoppage of the automatic recruitment of senior managers in the public sector such as teacherresearchers, inadequate credit facilities allocated to higher education and research etc. This situation has led to reforms, the major objective of which is to enhance the quality of higher education. 493. Thus, Niger has embarked on the introduction of the Bachelors, Master, Doctorate system in line with Guideline No. 03/2007/CM/UEMOA, on the one hand, and the establishment of seven (7) other public universities in order to reduce the overcrowding in the public university in Niamey, on the other. 494. This situation has brought about an additional cost for the government, including, among others, the increase in the number of teacher-researchers and students, an exponential increase in the demand for student accommodation, sponsorship of students (scholarships, social assistance, food for students …etc.). 98