Press Release: Outcomes Fund for Fevers: Financing Initiative to Test and Treat Fevers in African Private Sector Launches at Clinton Global Initiative Meeting
New York, NY, September 20, 2022 – Malaria No More and the Health Finance Coalition (HFC) today launched the Outcomes Fund for Fevers (OFF) in partnership with the Global Fund, Global Citizen, NPX, and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI). OFF is a new performance-based financing initiative aimed at scaling fever testing, treatment, and digital reporting through the private sector in sub-Saharan Africa. The initiative was announced by Dr. Chelsea Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting today during the Community Health session. The OFF will use performance-based payments and product subsidies to expand rapid malaria testing and access to quality treatments through innovative private sector delivery and care models. While OFF will initially focus on increasing malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACT) treatments, once established, OFF can be expanded to include additional fever diagnostic products such as COVID-19 tests, and other quality-assured drugs. The Challenge: Private Sector Health Care & Undiagnosed Fever Cases The private sector is the primary source of care for many children under five across sub-Saharan Africa. Up to 60% of patients in countries like Nigeria, where 1 in 3 global malaria deaths occur, first seek care from private providers. Yet 87% of fever cases go undiagnosed in the private sector, delaying treatment and contributing to high rates of illness and mortality from treatable diseases and conditions, including malaria. The Opportunity: Private Capital for Incentivizing Healthcare Investments Enormous health gains can be made quickly and cost-effectively to address malaria and other febrile illnesses, and prepare for future pandemics by scaling rapid diagnosis, quality-assured treatments, and data reporting in the private sector. Critical to achieving this goal is aligning financial incentives for patients and providers with the public health objective of providing quality products and care, even in informal private sector settings. The OFF is an outcomes fund, designed to scale quality testing, treatment, and digital reporting in the private sector using product subsidies and performance payments, thereby enabling greater impact and a faster path to scale compared to traditional grants or government funding. In this structure, impact investors provide upfront capital to implement the programs, and then are repaid – with the opportunity for a small return – when outcomes are achieved. Outcomes funders provide grant capital that is only released when results are achieved and independently verified. The OFF aims to raise an initial $25m to demonstrate this approach, with the opportunity to scale in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, and beyond. The OFF is hosted by the Global Fund and administered by Malaria No More and the Health Finance Coalition, with technical assistance provided by CHAI. The OFF is a part of Global Citizen’s Impact Funds, powered by NPX. Getting Started: Demonstrating the Potential in Nigeria In conjunction with the launch of the OFF, the Gates Foundation announced a $9M direct commitment to Maisha Meds to partner with Ministries of Health and women’s savings groups across Nigeria, Uganda, and Kenya. In time, the hope is to grow Maisha Meds’ technology-enabled network to [...]