Equity in access to ARV drugs in Malawi

This paper discusses the issue of equity in the distribution of ARV drugs in the Malawi health system. Malawi is one of the countries most severely affected by HIV/AIDS in southern Africa. It is also one of the poorest countries in the world. ARV drugs are expensive.The Malawi government, with assistance from the Global Fund on Tuberculosis, Malaria and HIV/AIDS, started providing free ARV drugs to eligible HIV-infected people in September 2004. The provision of free drugs brought the hope that everyone who was eligible would access them. Based on data collected through a qualitative research methodology, it was found that achieving equity in provision would face several challenges including policy, operational and socio-economic considerations. Specifically, the existing policy framework, shortage of medical personnel, access to information and inadequacy of effective community support groups are some of the key issues affecting equity.