Price Subsidy Schemes for Artemisinin-Based Combination Therapies (ACTs): Do They Work?

Although ACTs are recommended as first line treatment for uncomplicated malaria, actual use of ACT is very limited, partly due to its high price in pharmacies and retail stores. The Affordable Medicines Facility-malaria (AMFm), a donor-funded global price subsidy, has been proposed as a strategy to increase ACT use in malaria-endemic countries. Given that donor-supported ACT subsidy schemes are costly, it is crucial to ensure that they have their intended impact. In this Policy Brief, E2Pi reviews the available literature evaluating whether previous private sector ACT subsidy schemes have worked or not. The brief also discusses the implications of these schemes for the initial two-year AMFm pilot phase (Phase 1).

Download the full Policy Brief at: http://globalhealthsciences.ucsf.edu/pdf/e2pi-price-subsidy-schemes-for-...

Authors: Gavin Yamey and Marco Schäferhoff, March 2011

E2Pi is an independent policy research group providing information, analysis and strategic advice to improve investments for global health, and it is a partnership between the Global Health Group at the University of California, San Francisco and SEEK Development, a global health and development consulting group based in Berlin, Germany.