Nations with endemic malaria are urged to scrap taxes and tariffs on drugs and tests

Antimalaria advocacy groups have renewed calls for an end to taxes and tariffs on vital products used to fight the disease, including drugs, insecticide treated bed nets, and rapid diagnostic tests.

Awa Marie Coll-Seck, executive director of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, welcomed all initiatives to make these products affordable and accessible. Eliminating the tariffs—which in some countries add 40% to 50% to the price of antimalarial products, would help slash costs and make them affordable and accessible to poor people, experts say.

Data collected by the Malaria Taxes and Tariffs Advocacy Project (M-TAP), a two …