Myanmar (2013): The Republic of the Union of Myanmar 2013 Outlet Survey Report

Increasing access to artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) has played a key role in the recent successes in the global fight against malaria. However, emergence of resistance to Artemisinins in the Greater Mekong Subregion poses a major threat to future progress and has become the focus of international containment efforts aiming to limit the spread of resistance and eliminate malaria from the sub-region. These efforts include working to eliminate monotherapies and poor quality drugs in both the public and private sectors. In 2012, Population Services International (PSI) Myanmar funded by UKAID, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Good Ventures launched a containment effort to rapidly replace oral artemisinin monotherapy (OAMT) with ACT in the private sector, primarily through the implementation of a sustained price subsidy. In order to assess the impact of this intervention, PSI conducted nationally representative baseline and midline surveys, using the well established ACTwatch methods. The objective of the midline outlet survey is to monitor levels and trends in the availability, price and volumes of antimalarials, and providers' perceptions and knowledge of antimalarial medicines at different outlets. Price and availability data on diagnostic testing services is also collected. This report presents the results of a cross-sectional survey of outlets conducted in Myanmar from June e July 2013. A sample of all private outlets with the potential to sell or provide antimalarials to a consumer was taken through a census approach in 61 wards in the urban domain and 65 village tracts in the rural domain, giving a total of 122 wards and 130 village tracts across Myanmar including both the project intervention and control areas. The sample is restricted to the Thailand-Myanmar border due to the intervention focus. The cluster was defined as wards in urban and village tract in rural areas. Sampling was conducted using a stratified two-stage cluster sampling design, with the measure of size being the relative cluster population.