A few months ago Oxfam published a critical report on the Affordable medicines facility for malaria (AMFm), calling it a ‘dangerous distraction’ from more effective ways of providing treatment. Our problem with the scheme is that it relies on unqualified shopkeepers to diagnose and distribute drugs, rather than trained health workers. This means there’s a huge danger of people being misdiagnosed, given there are many other causes of fever, not just malaria.
Oxfam spoke to people in Ghana, to see what their experiences were. Christiana’s story highlights how harmful selling someone the wrong medicines can be.
Christiana Donyinaa is 43 and makes a living selling cosmetics. A few months ago her youngest daughter, Gloria (age 12), became ill with a fever. Christiana went to a shopkeeper and described Gloria’s symptoms and was told her daughter had malaria. The shopkeeper sold her malaria drugs. .....
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