NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, April 25, 2014

Malaria control programmes in recent decades offer overwhelming evidence that integrated, sustained malaria-eradication protocols that cover prevention, diagnosis, and treatment achieve results.

But two factors have kept the disease burden posed by malaria high in some of the most underdeveloped parts of the world: a lack of sustained financing and lack of co-ordination among interventions. This is exactly why malaria is such a prime target for applying development impact bonds (Dibs), a new way of attracting funding for development issues such as malaria.

In Dibs, donors commit to pay for achievement of a particular development goal. Private investors provide the bridge funding to allow interventions to operate towards the goal. Others – such as governments and donors – implement interventions, and the investors are repaid if the goal is reached. Dibs create incentives for the investors to demand good data on progress, and give the implementers freedom to adapt their methods in reaction to ongoing data collection. They create a new tool for investment, demand accountability, and enable practitioners to work with flexibility and innovation – all of which drive results.