The new initiative will expand access to high-quality and cost-saving malaria care and HIV prevention through a network of private local pharmacies using Maisha Meds’ mobile software, generating evidence to inform future public health strategies.
KAMPALA, Uganda, Oct. 31, 2025—Maisha Meds announced today that it has been selected by the Government of Uganda and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (“Global Fund”) to expand access to malaria care and HIV prevention services through community drug shops, pharmacies, and clinics.
The new investment catalyzes the deployment of innovative HIV and malaria programs through a cutting-edge channel: a network of local, independently-owned pharmacies that are already using Maisha Meds’ mobile software to run day-to-day business. These community providers—often patients’ first or preferred point of care—will introduce HIV prevention services historically available only in government clinics. For malaria, the partnership scales Maisha Meds’ research-backed program to improve testing and treatment, while rotating first-line antimalarial drugs in regions facing drug resistance.
“The future of healthcare delivery is about leveraging technology and the local health infrastructure patients already rely on to meet them where they are,” said Dr. Jessica Vernon, CEO of Maisha Meds. “We’re honored to join Uganda and the Global Fund in delivering not only HIV prevention and malaria care, but a blueprint for how countries can integrate the private sector into stronger national health systems.”
The partnership, called AMDIS (Alternative Mechanisms for Delivery of Integrated Services), comes as the Global Fund and national governments seek to build more sustainable and cost-efficient systems for healthcare delivery. After a competitive selection process that considered proposals from over 20 organizations, Maisha Meds was chosen to lead the project, which will provide governments and funders with novel data on product distribution, patient uptake, and pricing and costs in the private sector. These insights aim to inform Uganda’s national health strategies and the Global Fund’s investment decisions across multiple countries.
“This innovation strengthens community-level access to quality-assured medicines and diagnostics, ensuring that even those outside public facilities can receive timely, affordable, and reliable care,” said Dr. Diana Atwine, Permanent Secretary for Uganda’s Ministry of Health.
Over the course of this partnership, Maisha Meds will more than double its network in Uganda to upwards of 2,000 private outlets via partnerships with local faith-based networks and social enterprises. And together with CHAI, we will develop practical guidance for the Government of Uganda on scaling private-sector HIV services and implementing multiple first-line therapies for malaria, while pursuing sustainable funding for long-term implementation.
For malaria, the partnership aims to reach half a million people with Maisha Meds’ evidence-backed test-and-treat approach, treating more than 200,000 positive cases at a fraction of historical donor-funded program costs. In regions facing drug resistance, a subset of pharmacies will deploy a broader set of antimalarials—including those known as ASAQ and DHAP—by testing different patient pricing and provider reimbursement levels to optimize uptake. Global health experts have been increasingly calling for strategies that rotate different antimalarial drugs to prevent or slow drug resistance. This approach, sometimes called multiple first-line therapies (MFT), aims to buy critical time while next-generation medicines are in development. The project also sets the stage for when those new treatments arrive, so the groundwork for their effective deployment will already be in place.
For HIV prevention, the partnership will support 30,000 people with pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP and PEP) initiation and continuation. The program aims to offer patients a range of options, including pills and vaginal rings, while generating data that may inform future plans for introducing newer long-acting injectable medicines that have demonstrated substantially higher effectiveness against HIV infection for people at risk. AMDIS marks the first time publicly-funded malaria and HIV prevention commodities will flow through private pharmacies at this scale.
