[e-drug] Sach's unfahionable Rx for third world aid (2)

["Kae Trouilloud" <kae.trouilloud@mercyships.org>]

E-DRUG: Sach's unfahionable Rx for third world aid (2)
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Greetings,

I am wondering if there is more information and evidence available about the statement Sachs' made on user fees. Mercy Ships offer free medical care with no attached charges at all, but we often hear similar remarks (pointedly not from the patients themselves but more usually from
spectators), about how a minimal charge somehow adds value to the remedies
or drugs in the eyes of the receiver. It is not our experience but I would
be interested if there is some kind of concrete information or evidence or
even experiences from others that we can refer to. In the nations we serve
(often amongst the last 20 of the UN Human Development Index category like
Liberia and Sierra Leone), most of our patients would not even be able to
afford the 1 dollar or 50 cents as their income is already just 1 USD a day
or less. As this is not a normal E-Drug topic I leave it in the hands of the moderator whether to include this.

[There are numeorus publications on user fees, also in the e-drug archives. User fees are used in drug revolving funds (DRF), Bamako Initiative projects etc. Moderator]

Kae 

Kae Ting TROUILLOUD
Pharmacy Manager/Editor of the Mercy Ships Formulary
Mercy Ships International
with M/V Anastasis, currently docked in Tema, Ghana
_______________________________________________________
Email: kae.trouilloud@mercyships.org
M/V Anastasis, PO Box 2020, Garden Valley, Texas 75771, USA
Tel: 1 (954) 538-4258  and  Fax: 1 (954) 337-2811
Mercy Ships - www.mercyships.org