Can Coca-Cola Make Malaria Drugs Accessible in Uganda?

by Mike Smith · 2009-09-01 13:00:00 UTC
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The Guardian newspaper is tracking the three-year development of Katine, a village in Uganda. Writing about Katine, Sarah Boseley explains how easy it is to buy a coke in the village, but how tough it is to find malaria pills, blaming the lack of public sector drugs on the private sector market. Writing in response, David J Olson, Director of policy communications, for the Global Health Council says that it's folly to attack the private sector. He asks "why not look for opportunities to harness the ability of that same market that delivers soft drinks...to also deliver malaria drugs, bed nets, condoms and other essential health products?"

A Coca Cola representative subsequently argued that whilst Coca-Cola have used their distribution networks to deliver emergency aid in the past, the best way to tackle disadvantage is to create new businesses—Coca Cola intend to create 1,300 new manual distribution centers in East Africa. Not entirely convincing, but good to see Coca-Cola weigh in on an important discussion.

[Photo credit: andrepierre]

Mike Smith
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