THE CASE FOR IMPACT INVESTMENT

BRIEF PARTNER DESCRIPTION: COMIXMUL is a savings and credit cooperative based in Siguatepeque, Honduras, with approximately 25,000 women members. Almost 50% of COMIXMUL members live in rural areas, and the same number live under the poverty line. COMIXMUL works hand in hand with a not-for-profit foundation called FUDEIMFA to deliver training, technical assistance and health services, with the goal of incenting members to invest smarter in their micro-enterprises and also to boost their level of satisfaction with membership in the cooperative. In Honduras, 78% of all health expenses are the cost of medicines, placing them out of reach financially from many who need them. This program not only makes medicines more accessible economically, by charging half the margin found in the commercial market, but also saves families money in transportation by establishing a point of sale closer to home.

INNOVATION: COMIXMUL and FUDEIMFA began the community pharmacies program several years ago, but has never achieved full financial sustainability due to a faulty cost-revenue model and a steep learning curve on the supply chain side. In addition to an inventory of essential medicines, community pharmacists will be equipped and trained to deliver nebulization services, which will help families respond in a more timely way to acute respiratory infections, the leading cause of morbidity for children under 5 in Honduras. In order to incent performance in sales, quality and transparency, community pharmacists will retain 10% of gross earnings.

INVESTMENT: Global Partnerships disbursed $92,000 in December 2012, committing to a one-year (total of $130,000) investment phase which aims to achieve operational and working capital sustainability across 20 community pharmacies. These pharmacies collectively serve a population of 34,000 people in rural Honduras with essential medicines. If this first phase of investment is successful, future phases could include building out a COMIXMUL-owned network of basic clinics to deliver preventive and primary care services, as well as leveraging both the rural pharmacy and clinic touch points to deliver key preventive health information.

COMIXMULHealth Services Fund | Dec. 2012 | Issue 1

Photo c/o Lara Puglielli/GP.

RESULTS

Too early to report.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Which are the essential medicines that satisfy the majority of poor families’ prevalent health requirements?

• What is the optimal profile, incentive system to sustain a network of community pharmacists?

• What are effective training strategies for community pharmacists to educate not only about the use of medicines but also about prevention and smart use of health services?

• What are the key factors to ensure a smooth supply chain of essential medicines to rural communities?

• What are the critical factors for optimizing both individual point of sale and aggregate performance (net revenue and working capital)?

Access to Basic MedicinesTarget at scale = 30,000Current = 0 (0 %)

Access to Basic Medicines

0%

REACH / SCALEA snapshot view of progress

SUSTAINABILITYDec. 2012

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