The Malaria Taxes and Tariffs Advocacy Project (M-TAP), a two-year research and advocacy program recently released a report that shows the vast majority of the world’s malaria-endemic countries continue to maintain import tariffs on essential commodities used in the fight against malaria, including bednets, anti-malarial medicines, insecticides used in indoor residual spraying (IRS), IRS pumps, and rapid diagnostic tests.
Just six countries—Guinea, Kenya, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania, and Uganda—have taken action to remove all tariffs on ACs in the decade since the Abuja Declaration identified import tariffs and domestic taxes on ACs as a significant barrier to access. By contrast, 18 malaria-endemic countries currently maintain tariffs on all five AC categories reviewed by M-TAP, and 24 countries maintain tariffs on three or more ACs.