The Bamako Initiative was a formal statement adopted by

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n health ministers in 1987 in

Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on the Niger Rive ...

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...

, to implement strategies designed to increase the availability of essential drugs and other healthcare services for

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

ns. The idea as proposed by

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to c ...

's executive director,

James P. Grant James Pineo Grant (May 12, 1922 – January 28, 1995) was an American diplomat and children's advocate. Grant served for 15 years (from January 1980 to January 1995) as the third executive director of the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund ...

, was for UNICEF and other donors to supply drugs to countries which would be sold a little above cost. The profits from these sales would be used to buy more drugs in a self-sustaining way. By 1988, 20 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa were making plans. A Health Policy and Planning article by Hardon (1990; 5: 186-189) describes the initiative as follows:

Measures

The Bamako Initiative proposed decentralising health decision making to local levels and establishing realistic national drug policies to enhance the provision of essential drugs for Sub-Saharan Africans.

Challenges

There were several problems with the initiative such as discrimination against the poorest, a national health care dependent on the sale of drugs, and the requirement of foreign currency to import drugs versus an income in local currency.

Health Action International Health Action International (HAI) is a non-profit organization based in The Netherlands. Established in 1981, HAI works to expand access to essential medicines through research, policy analysis and intervention projects. The organization focus ...

an NGO working in health policy started discussion forums around the continent to encourage discussion and address these and other issues with the initiative.

References

External links

UNICEF - The Bamako Initiative
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* World Health Organization Health in Africa Bamako 1987 in Africa History of Mali {{Mali-stub