DNDi welcomes the agreement by WHO member states to pass a resolution that calls for governments to boost innovative research and development (R&D) on drugs for neglected diseases.

During this past weekend, the annual assembly of 192 WHO member states agreed to establish an intergovernmental working group that will develop a global strategy and plan of action to provide a medium-term framework for needs-driven, essential health R&D.

Spearheaded by Kenya and Brazil, this resolution represents a pivotal first step to address a fatal research imbalance that has so far been ignored. By the next World Health Assembly (WHA) in 2007, the resolution calls for a report that proposes clear objectives and priorities for R&D, along with estimated funding needs, and that will be finalized in time for the WHA in 2008.

"The resolution is a clear sign that governments are waking up to their responsibility to prioritize needs-driven health R&D," remarked Dr. Bernard Pecoul."

The deliberations of the World Health Assembly come one month after a WHO-commissioned report led by former Swiss president Ruth Dreifuss identified flaws in the current R&D model, and one week after DNDi presented its R&D appeal calling for government leadership to the late WHO Director-General Lee.

Dr. Pecoul said, "As a product development partnership, DNDi recognizes that it is only part of the solution and is greatly encouraged that the WHO, in collaboration with world governments, will devise novel mechanisms to bring new drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics to those who so desperately need them."

The Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) is an independent, not-for-profit drug development initiative established in 2003 by five public-sector research organisations - Kenya Medical Research Institute, Indian Council of Medical Research, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation Brazil, Malaysian Ministry of Health, and France's Institut Pasteur; and Médecins Sans Frontières.The UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO's Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) is a permanent observer to the initiative. With a current portfolio of 20 projects, DNDi aims to develop new, improved, and field-relevant drugs for neglected diseases, such as malaria, leishmaniasis, human African trypanosomiasis, and Chagas disease, that afflict the very poor in developing countries. DNDi also raises awareness about the need for greater R&D for neglected diseases and strengthens existing research capacity in disease-endemic countries.

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