Last Updated: 25/09/2025
Scaling a Digital Approach to Targeted Malaria Treatment
Objectives
To expand a digital platform that connects rural pharmacists and clinicians with affordable, quality medicines and provides them with incentives to follow best practices in malaria care.
Private sector pharmacies and clinics are a significant provider of healthcare in many parts of Africa; however, quality care and treatments are often scarce. Patients frequently choose the lowest-cost pathway to treatment, skipping over diagnostic testing and purchasing cheaper, poor-quality options. For example, in private pharmacies, fewer than one in ten suspected malaria cases are tested to confirm a diagnosis; studies have found that more than 65 percent of sales of a common antimalarial drug are by people who do not have malaria, fueling overtreatment while leaving patients untreated for other illnesses. To increase appropriately targeted care, Maisha Meds developed a digital inventory and sales management platform for pharmacies. The platform includes a voluntary loyalty program allowing Maisha Meds to offer targeted reimbursements to both patients and pharmacists to incentivize using a rapid diagnostic test for malaria, followed by quality antimalarials only for those with a test confirming malaria diagnosis. A Stage 2 award (2019-2022) from Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) enabled Maisha Meds to expand its platform from 200 to more than 1,000 pharmacies in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda and conduct a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effect of the loyalty program on appropriate antimalarial use. The trial found a 300 percent increase in appropriate malaria case management compared to the control group; the program significantly increased sales of rapid diagnostic tests and increased the percentage of antimalarials sold with a confirmatory diagnosis while decreasing the number of antimalarials sold without a confirmatory diagnosis. With new support from DIV, Maisha Meds aims to expand its network of pharmacies using the platform to 2,500 additional facilities, serving 400,000 patients through the loyalty program across Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda.
Sep 2023 — Sep 2026
$5.25M
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