ACTwatch Lite - Cameroon 2024

This dataset includes data from the ACTwatch Lite Cameroon 2024 study, which was a private sector malaria market study conducted in the Centre and Littoral regions using methods adapted from the ACTwatch project. This was the second ACTwatch Lite survey (after the 2023 survey in Benin) and represents the first large-scale private-sector malaria market survey of its kind in Cameroon. The study aims to provide results for indicators including antimalarial drug availability, price and market share, and antimalarial blood test availability and price. Data was collected on supply chain characteristics, including national, regional and local distribution footprint, surveillance and digital engagement readiness, and digital capacity. The private healthcare sector in Cameroon comprises not-for-profit health facilities, for-profit private healthcare establishments (clinics, general practitioner offices), pharmacies (which are registered and licensed by the national regulatory authority, DPML (Direction de la pharmacies du médicament et des laboratoires) and informal retailers (known as street pharmacies or officines de la rue, and largely made up of kiosks and market stalls, with a relatively smaller number of itinerant vendors). All formal and informal outlets in the private health sector likely to sell or distribute antimalarials and/or diagnostic tests were approached for participation in the study. Outlets were eligible to be interviewed and audited for antimalarial products if they met at least one of the following three criteria: i) had one or more antimalarials in stock on the day of the survey; ii) had one or more antimalarials in stock in the three months prior to the survey; and/or iii) provided blood tests for malaria diagnosis (microscopy or RDT). Among wholesalers, the following outlets were approached for inclusion: all pharmaceutical and medical supply companies that wholesaled antimalarial drugs and/or malaria rapid diagnostic tests (mainly to retail outlets) in the three months prior to the survey. The ACTwatch Lite Cameroon survey employed a cluster sampling approach used by ACTwatch and other market surveys. The primary sampling approach adopted for point-of-sale surveys is to sample a set of administrative units (geographical clusters) with a corresponding population of around 5,000 to 10,000 in rural areas and 10,000 to 30,000 in urban areas – see appendix for more information. The appropriate administrative unit in Cameroon corresponding to the desired population size is the health area. Please consult the full report for more information on the background, design, implementation and data analysis of the study.