Soft targets or partners in health? Retail pharmacies and their role in Tanzania's malaria control program.

Social Science & Medicine
Vinay R Kamat, Daniel J Nyato

Abstract

The retail sector has been at the center of recent policy debates concerning its role in malaria control programs in Africa. This article closely examines the perspectives of owners and managers of retail pharmacies and drug shops in Dar es Salaam, toward the dominant public health discourse and practices surrounding the deployment of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) as a way forward in malaria control. Drawing on fieldwork conducted between May-August 2007, and July-August 2009, involving in-depth interviews and participant observation in pharmacies and drug shops in Dar es Salaam, the article describes the social realities facing people who manage retail pharmacies, the nature of their interactions with customers, the kinds of antimalarials they sell, and their perspective on how the new malaria treatment guidelines have affected their business. Findings suggest that for most pharmacy owners and managers, it is 'business as usual' concerning the sale of conventional antimalarials, with a majority reporting that the introduction of ACT in public health facilities had not negatively affected their business. Implications of the research findings are examined in the context of proposed interventions to make pharmacy ow...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jul 4, 2012·Medical Anthropology·Lenore Manderson
Jun 10, 2011·Health & Social Care in the Community·Yi WenUNKNOWN NIMH Collaborative HIV/STD Prevention Trial Group
Apr 4, 2012·Health & Place·Susan Craddock

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