MarketW atch Innovation In Namibia: Preserving Private Health Insurance And HIV/AIDS Treatment

Namibia, a lower-middle-income country in sub-Saharan Africa, suffers from a huge HIV/AIDS burden. An influx of donor funding in 2004-2007 increased support for publicly provided HIV care and treatment. This raised concern that private funding would be "crowded out," thereby leading to a reduction in the overall resources used to treat pa- tients. In 2006 the Namibian medical aid industry, with donor support, created a special fund to subsidize private health insurance, including HIV/AIDS services. The program al- lowed both low- and higher-income people to be covered. Crowding out valuable private re- sources was avoided and the quality of HIV/AIDS services improved. (Health Aff (Millwood).