UNITAID market power results in price cuts of up to 80% for HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria products

UNITAID’s approach to transform health product markets has delivered price reductions of up to 80% for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria medicines and diagnostics for the world’s poor, according to the just released Results Beyond Investment, its 2012 Annual Report.

Through implementers, UNITAID finances the purchase of medicines and diagnostics for patients in poor countries, using its market power to expand supply, promote development of new and better products, cut delivery lead times and reduce prices.

As global health funding stagnates, the report shows how the proceeds from UNITAID’s main funding source – a levy on air tickets – has been invested in catalytic interventions that shape markets, achieving “results beyond investment.” According to UNITAID’s first independent evaluation, released in December 2012, these interventions achieved better outcomes than those of traditional investments in public health service delivery, because of a “multiplier effect:”