Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) (“Kalazar”) is an important public health issue in Brazil. The guidelines of Brazilian Ministry of Health set up pentavalent antimony as the first line treatment, and amphotericin (deoxicolate and liposomal) as the second line treatment of VL. There are evidences that liposomal amphotericin (LA) and amphotericin deoxicolate (AD) present similiar efficacy, but LA has a better safety profile. Unfortunately, its price has been the principal barrier to its usage by public health system. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of differential pricing policy of LA in the Brazilian public health system. METHODS: The global amount spent on medicines from 2007 to 2009 by the Ministry of Health on the different types of treatment was retrieved from the Brazilian sanitary surveillance system. The following associated costs were also analysed: hospital care and professional services; laboratorial tests (potassium, urea, creatinine and transaminases); and loss of working days (average daily income). This information allowed us to perform the cost analysis of the different therapeutic options.  RESULTS: The differential pricing policy for LA implemented in 2008 allowed a cost reduction of 76.8% (from US$5.881 to US$590 per treatment) enabling the Ministry of Health to double the number of patients treated with LA. The associated costs of hospitalization and loss of productivity by patients are higher with AD than with LA, but the total cost of LA treatment (medication+associated costs) is still 11.3% to 27% higher.  CONCLUSIONS: In a societal perspective it was shown that a substantial price reduction of a safer drug enhanced its use and distribution by the Ministry of Health. It became also evident that the policy of differential pricing is an effective way to promote access to an efficient and safer treatment of VL, a disease that mainly affects the poor.