The role of drug depots in the informal circulation of medicines in Madagascar

The geographical circulation of products used in a therapeutic context at different spatial scales is a phenomenon that has been increasing for several decades with the progression of trade, ease of travel, migration and the spread of biomedicine on a global scale. Health products are now part of economic globalisation and represent a lucrative market that is difficult to quantify due to the formal and informal channels and networks used. The circulation of health products can be analysed from a cross-border point of view but can also be considered at the national level by analysing the organisation of private, public and informal distribution channels; this is the approach adopted in this article. In our work, we have chosen to characterise this market as "informal" in the sense that it involves the sale and purchase of medicines outside the formal framework imposed by the state ...