Access Programs
An estimated six million people living with HIV/AIDS are in immediate need of treatment they are not currently receiving. Yet, the high cost of these medications has historically prevented many developing countries from being able to purchase and distribute them, jeopardizing the health of entire populations.
CHAI’s Approach to Access
In order to make HIV/AIDS care and treatment more accessible, CHAI’s Access Programs have worked to lower the price of essential HIV/AIDS drugs and diagnostics, facilitate rapid access to new products, and improve the health and efficiency of the marketplace for these commodities. CHAI does this by transforming the marketplace for HIV commodities from a low-volume, high-margin market to a high-volume, low margin market through simultaneous and intensive engagement on both the supply and demand sides of the market. Today, CHAI is applying this approach to new areas, including malaria drugs and nutrition commodities.
CHAI’s Agreements
Beginning in 2002, CHAI’s Access Programs have worked with generic pharmaceutical companies to negotiate affordable prices for HIV/AIDS medicine. Since 2003, CHAI has completed pricing agreements for 40 formulations of antiretrovirals (ARVs) with eight companies. Currently, more than 70 countries have access to reduced pricing for these medicines. In 2006, CHAI entered into a partnership with the international funding organization, UNITAID, to combine the purchasing power of UNITAID with CHAI’s model of price negotiations in order to increase the availability of pediatric and second-line commodities.
Since then, CHAI and UNITAID have achieved cumulative price reductions of 30% for second-line ARVs and 60% for pediatric ARVs. In addition, CHAI and UNITAID made new pediatric fixed-dose combinations (FDCs), priced at just $60 per child per year, available to more than two dozen countries in 2007. Access to CHAI pricing agreements have become widespread, with purchasers readily able to access prices under the original ceilings set by CHAI. As of the beginning of 2008, 2.0 million people living with HIV, globally, are benefiting from ARVs purchased under CHAI agreements.
Beyond HIV/AIDS Treatment
CHAI also focuses on helping health facilities access diagnostics and medications for other life threatening diseases and conditions such as malaria and malnutrition.
Testing
A well-functioning laboratory system is essential to accurately diagnosing HIV- positive patients. In order to increase access to crucial laboratory hardware and supplies, CHAI has negotiated agreements with 12 diagnostic companies covering a total of 16 platforms/tests, including CD4, viral load tests, rapid tests, and infant diagnostics. CHAI, with UNITAID funding, has become the world’s largest buyer of DNA PCR tests which are used to diagnose infants younger than 18 months old. Learn more about these laboratory services.
Nutrition
Administering ready-to-use-therapeutic food (RUTF) can make it possible to effectively treat children with severe acute malnutrition, a condition that goes hand in hand with HIV/AIDS. CHAI has worked to increase the supplier base for RUTF, increasing competition and lowering cost in order to make RUTF available to those that are most affected by hunger. Learn more about RUTF.
Malaria
Malaria is the single greatest killer of African children, responsible for more than one million deaths each year. To address the need to increase access to effective treatment, CHAI piloted a subsidy program in Tanzania to help those struggling with malaria to get the treatment they need. In less than six months, this pilot program has reduced the cost of a more effective treatment than the leading drug currently being used from $10 to $0.50 and has increased update of this medicine by 45%. Learn more about this pilot program.
PROFILE
Lisebo came back to life after receiving antiretroviral treatment at the clinic at age seven. But there are still 2.3 million children in the world who live with HIV, most of whom do not receive treatment.
