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WASHINGTON — For an app that helps pharmacies in Africa manage their medicines, the term “pharmacy benefit manager” has become a dirty word.

The organization, called Maisha Meds, plays the role of a middleman between international groups like USAID and the Gates Foundation and pharmacies. By definition, it’s a PBM. But since it’s a nonprofit company and it subsidizes medicines and tests aimed at promoting public health, it’s hesitant to describe itself that way.

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“Because so many people kind of think of PBMs in the U.S. as the enemy, we don’t ourselves use that term,” said Maisha Meds’ founder and CEO, Jessica Vernon.

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