The Bamako initiative.

Under the Bamako initiative UNICEF will provide free drugs to participating countries for the 1st few years; drugs will be sold to patients; and communities will control the finances. The aims are to establish a revolving drug fund to pay for future drug supplies and to use leftover money to maintain and improve primary health care services. Several problems with the initiative are foreseen. Firstly charging users may reduce utilization by the poor. Although UNICEF agrees that provision of free service for indigents in necessary systematic identification of these people may be difficult. Secondly financing will be difficult to implement given the rarity of managerial skills and the poor quality of local supervision. The sustainability of the initiative is also in doubt. UNICEF initially proposed large mark ups on the basic cost of the drugs; now partial recovery of the cost is proposed although how charges will be set is unclear. The question of whether services will be dependent when the free drugs stop remains to be answered. A further objection to the scheme is the almost inevitable deterioration of rational prescribing; paying patients will feel justified in demanding drugs and injections. UNICEFs solutions and strategies for implementation of policy remain vague and lack attention to detail. For instance initial training courses aide community management of drug funds but there is no commitment to continued support and local evaluation. Other sources of funding need to be considered. Host governments should commit to continued financial and supervisory input and to maintaining control over their own health services. Communication between staff and government should be established and maintained. Gradual and sensitive introduction with careful monitoring of equity utilization and rational drug use is essential to prevent failure of this important proposal.