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Impact of Public-Private Partnerships Addressing Access to Pharmaceuticals in Low and Middle Income Countries: Zambia
Lush, Louisiana Auton, Martin Nkandu, Patrick Dlamini, Qhing Qhing
Lush, Louisiana
Auton, Martin
Nkandu, Patrick
Dlamini, Qhing Qhing
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Abstract
"The health consequences of poverty lead to major inequities in developing countries such as Zambia, and ill-health perpetuates poverty. Many health problems among populations disadvantaged by poverty have been neglected because of lack of commercial incentives or have proven intractable when tackled independently by the public sector or NGOs. In recent years, a number of public-private partnerships (PPPs) have been established to tackle particular health problems. Most target specific products, diseases or technologies. One category of PPPs addresses access to pharmaceuticals critical to treatment or care for diseases disproportionately or uniquely affecting the poor in developing countries. These PPPs for drug access – usually based around provision of products that are donated or heavily discounted and multi-partner efforts at field level to ensure their distribution and proper use – are often the only initiatives addressing diseases that are not high on the political agenda, such as lymphatic filariasis and sleeping sickness. While these PPPs result in health benefits for the populations that they reach, there are questions about integration, coordination, implementation and impact in relation to health services in the countries where they operate. Key questions include the degree to which involvement of multinational pharmaceutical companies in drug procurement and delivery improves drug availability and access for the poor, the extent to which availability of free or reduced price drugs distorts decisions on priorities or prices, and the feasibility and sustainability of taking such initiatives to scale. These questions are becoming increasingly important as the number of drug access partnerships grows and as countries have to prioritise use of resources in the context of debt relief, sector-wide approaches (SWAps) in health and multisectoral poverty reduction strategies (PRSPs)."(pg 5)
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2004-09
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2940286221
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With permission of the license/copyright holder