Economic behavior of medicine retailers and access to anti-malarials

Purpose - The subsidization of artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) at supranational level to avoid undermining the private distribution system in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere, as advocated by Committee on the Economics of Antimalarial Drugs board on Global Health, requires the appraisal of the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of social economics 2013-01, Vol.40 (4), p.367-384
Main Authors: Eme Ichoku, Hyacinth, Ataguba, John E, Fonta, William M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Access to health care
Data collection
Diseases
Drug dosages
Drugs
Economic behaviour
Health
Health care
Health services
Informal economy
Low income groups
Malaria
Medicine
Nigeria
Parasites
Pharmaceuticals
Prices
Private sector
Profits
Public health
Public sector
Retail stores
Retail trade
Retailing industry
Rural areas
Studies
SubSaharan Africa
Subsidies
Supranationalism
Tropical diseases
Urban areas
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Summary:Purpose - The subsidization of artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) at supranational level to avoid undermining the private distribution system in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere, as advocated by Committee on the Economics of Antimalarial Drugs board on Global Health, requires the appraisal of the economic behaviour of relevant private agents in these regions, in order to assess their potential influence on access to ACT. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the economic behaviour of informal medicine retailers and how this effects access to ACT, using data generated from a primary survey in southeast Nigeria.Design methodology approach - A field survey was carried out which included health providers and households. A market price survey was undertaken to generate primary data, using closed and semi-open questionnaires, and there were focus group discussions in two south-eastern states in Nigeria. A standard two-stage method was used for the design of the survey.Findings - The study demonstrates that the economic behaviour of informal medicine affects market prices of ACT, facilitates information diffusion, improves availability and acceptability dimensions of access to ACT. However, their clinical practices are weak and require policy interventions.Originality value - This paper brings to the fore the influence of economic behaviour of retail agents in the medical market, which needs to be taken into account when considering alternative distributional channels for ACT, if the WHO goal of universal access in malaria-endemic regions is to be achieved.
ISSN:0306-8293
1758-6712
DOI:10.1108/03068291311305035