Access to healthcare and medicines remains a challenge for the majority of people in developing countries. Availability and affordability of safe and efficacious medicines are crucial factors impacting access, which in turn affects the ability to combat diseases, as well as child and maternal mortality. The complexity of the access issue, however, extends far beyond the availability of affordable medicines and even the healthcare system. Many different factors and causes must be taken into account and targeted.

The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development (NFSD) and its partners have developed an access to healthcare framework, defined as the degree to which a patient’s resources, needs and expectations (demand) are aligned with a healthcare system’s services and providers (supply). Access to healthcare and medicines can only be sustainable if the local healthcare system and services meet demand. Drawing on this framework, the ACCESS project aims to analyze and improve access to effective malaria treatment and care in four rural districts in Tanzania, in particular for pregnant women and children under five years of age. Supported by the foundation in collaboration with the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), the ACCESS project intervenes on both the supply and the demand side of access.