ABSTRACT
A number of global initiatives, such as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and UNITAID, have resulted in a quadrupling of health resources for poorer countries between 1990 and 2007, mostly for HIV/AIDS, but also with increases for malaria and tuberculosis (Ravishankar et al. 2009). For example, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) alone has approved grants for over $15.5 billion – nearly 50 per cent of which is allocated for medicines and commodities.1 These new pharmaceutical funding sources have greatly affected medicine and commodity procurement, distribution, and pharmacy management systems, especially in countries heavily affected by HIV. Although the largest initiatives have focused on particular diseases and not specifically on child health, there has been leveraging, especially in malaria activities that focus on community medicine distribution and generally target vulnerable children under five years of age.
