National Health Insurance Fund's relationship to retail drug outlets: a Tanzania case study.

Background: Achieving universal health coverage will require robust private sector engagement; however, as many low- and middle-income countries launch prepayment schemes to achieve universal health coverage, few are covering products from retail drug outlets (pharmacies and drug shops). This case study aims to characterize barriers and facilitators related to incorporating retail drug outlets into national prepayment schemes based on the experience of the Tanzanian National Health Insurance Fund's (NHIF) certification of pharmacies and accredited drug dispensing outlets.

Methods: We reviewed government documents and interviewed 26 key informants including retail outlet owners and dispensers and central and district government authorities representing eight districts overall.