Malaria is one of the leading causes of death in sub‐Saharan Africa. Artemisinin‐based combination therapies are used as first‐line treatment drugs, but their marketis far from competitive. Market failures include limited availability, low quality, lackof information, and high costs of access.We estimated the theoretical demand for one of the most common artemisinin‐basedcombination therapies, arte mether‐lumefantrine (AL), and its determinants amongcaregivers of children with malaria seeking care at public health facilities, thus,entitled to receive drugs for free, in southern Mozambique (year 2012). Thepredicted theoretical demand was contrasted with international and local pr ivatemarket AL prices.Respondents stated high willingness to pay but lower ability to pay (ATP), whichwas defined as the theoretical demand. The ATP was on average of 0.94 USD forthe treatment of a malar ia episode. This implied an average gap of 1.04 USDbetween average local private prices and theoretical demand. Predicted ATPdecreased by 14% for every additional malaria episode that the child had sufferedduring the malaria season.The market price was unaffordable for a large share of our sample, highlighting anunequal welfare distribution between suppliers and potential consumers, as well asissues of inequity in the private delivery of AL.