Malaria Advocacy Project Targets Taxes and Tariffs
November 2008
DCS is part of a team led by the Academy for Educational Development to evaluate the impact of taxes and tariffs on anti-malarial commodities. Malaria is known as the “silent tsunami” in Africa, claiming more than 1.5 million lives per year, mostly young children and pregnant women.
DCS, AED, Africa Fights Malaria (AFM) and Ogilvy, a public relations firm, comprise the consortium for this two-year project. . DCS will be evaluating the impact of tax and tariff regimes across 72 Malaria-endemic countries, with specific case studies for Benin, Cambodia, Madagascar, Nigeria, and Uganda.
DCS will carry out economic analyses of the effects of tariffs and taxes on fighting Malaria, focusing on how current policies impact manufacturers, importers, distributors and end-users.
DCS will provide expertise in health economics, participate in developing case studies for the five identified countries, perform value chain analyses to evaluate the impact of policies on prices, and establish advocacy. DCS will also take the lead on all monitoring and evaluation tasks for the project.
Makiko Omitsu, Project Administrator said, “Reforming Malaria commodities taxes and tariffs framework around the globe will save thousands of lives that would otherwise be lost to this devastating infectious disease.”