Problem

Millions of children in developing countries continue to needlessly die from diseases that are treatable for less than the cost of a cup of coffee. Malaria, diarrhea, and pneumonia cause the majority of these early deaths. Newborn infections and poor nutrition add to the burden. The world lacks scalable, cost-effective delivery systems of dependable medicines. In the poorest countries health choices are bleak. Public health systems are chronically under-funded, under-stocked, and under-managed. Stock out rates at public health facilities can exceed 50 percent and absenteeism is common. In Africa, there are only 2.3 healthcare workers per a population of 1,000—in the Americas there are 24. Public health experts estimate that it would require at least four million more health workers to meet the need. Many poor consumers seek care and products from private outlets, which are no better than public health systems. The private sector is a fragmented and inefficient landscape of millions of small outlets served by multiple layers of resellers. The result? The poorest consumers pay retail prices for vital drugs that reach 350 percent of factory cost, counterfeit products abound, and poorly trained, poorly monitored health outlets are the norm. Each of these problems increases at the “last mile” where the need is the greatest.