Affordable Malaria Treatment Task Force

The establishment of the Working Group is a response to the expressed need for greater proactivity by RBM Partners, including endemic countries, to collectively address issues of financing gaps and resource utilization in RBM related programmes and initiatives.

The Working Group is to serve as an advisory body to the RBM Partnership Board in connection with the objectives to: (i) enhance the RBM Partnership's capacity to mobilize new resources for country malaria control actions, including prevention, (ii) ensure the effective utilization of available financial allocations. Members of the Working Group would also review financial flows data used by the RBM Partnership for advocacy or international reporting to ensure consistency and accuracy of information disseminated on malaria control including prevention actions.

The Working Group will be comprised of members drawn from a variety of institutions and representing a broad range of disciplines necessary to fulfill the above-noted functions. The membership of the Working Group will be determined through a process approved by the RBM Partnership Board using the following selection criteria: (i) balance of expertise and experience to address the above noted Working Group functions; (ii) knowledge of malaria and malaria-related issues; (iii) geographic representation; and (iv) commitment to active participation.

After publication of the Institute of Medicine Report in 2004 "Saving Lives Buying Time", the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership decided to examine further the ACT subsidy concept. In September 2005 the RBM Finance and Resource Working Group asked the World Bank to develop a detailed proposal for the design and operation of such a global ACT subsidy. Further to an open tender process, the World Bank contracted Dalberg Global Development Advisors to conduct an initial study on the feasibility and possible financial mechanisms of a global ACT subsidy.

An Expert Workshop and Consultative Forum on a High-Level Buyer Subsidy for Artemisinin-Based Combination Therapies (ACTs) took place in Amsterdam on 18 and 19 January 2007. In Amsterdam the malaria community strongly endorsed the project of a global subsidy and suggested the creation of a RBM Task Force to steer the project.

Amsterdam Meeting Global Subsidy for ACTs Agreed in Amsterdam
Experts and policy makers agreed on 19 January that a global subsidy for artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) should be put into place as soon as possible to make effective malaria treatments affordable and accessible to all. Hosted by the Dutch Government, the high level RBM Finance and Resources Working Group meeting included representatives from GFATM, PMI, WB, UNITAID, WHO, UNICEF and the Gates Foundation as well as endemic and donor countries, foundations, NGOs and the private sector. It was anticipated that the resources required to back such a subsidy (between US$ 80-100million in 2008 and around US$ 250m yearly from 2009 onwards) could be secured before 2008 and that potential risks, such as market distortion, could be mitigated by ongoing and effective monitoring.
For more info refer to summary conclusions, to the summary of the breakout groups and to the presentations by the 1972 Nobel prize winner Economy Professor Ken Arrow, by the World Bank, by Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) and by the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi).

Any expression of interest in participating should be addressed to the RBM Partnership Secretariat.