Resource Library

Surmounting Challenges: Procurement of Antiretroviral Medicines in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

As the price of antiretrovirals (ARVs) in low- and middle-income countries has fallen in recent years, governments, international agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been able to start developing treatment programmes for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Procurement strategies are a key element in this global scaling-up process. As Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) was one of the first international NGOs providing ARV therapy, the World Health Organization (WHO) requested that MSF document its procurement experiences in 10 countries where it has ARV treatment programmes, so that others could benefit from what has been learned.