Drug Shops

Many in low-income countries seek care from drug shops rather than from public health facilities. However, despite the shops’ popularity, governments rarely oversee them or include them in health policies. To improve access to quality drugs and pharmaceutical services, we've worked with stakeholders to design and implement a public–private initiative that combines government accreditation of shops and personnel; building the capacity of owners, sellers, and inspectors; and public advocacy.

Many people in resource-limited countries prefer to seek health care from the private sector due to convenience, availability of medicines, privacy, and poor perceptions of public sector care. Our accredited drug seller initiative addresses both supply- and demand-side barriers to accessing quality pharmaceutical products and services and establishes positive links between the public and private sectors. We combine training, incentives, supervision, and regulatory enforcement with efforts to increase customers’ desire for quality pharmaceutical products and services.

Decreased availability of illegal injectables from 61% to 0% in accredited shops in Uganda, reduced the proportion of shops with expired drugs on the shelves from 83% to 8% in Liberia, and in Tanzania, increased compliance with malaria treatment guidelines from 6% to 63%.