Stop TB Partnership

Lilly Foundation commits US $30 million to the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership

27 October 2011 - Lille, France - The Eli Lilly and Company Foundation has committed US $30 million to enable the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership to continue its fight against multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) - a disease that disproportionately affects developing countries and kills more than 150,000 people each year. The announcement was made ahead of the opening of the 42nd Union World Conference on Lung Health.

Eli Lilly and Company launched The Lilly MDR-TB Partnership in 2003 to strengthen the global battle against MDR-TB. The company provided US $135 million from 2003 to 2011 to transfer technology for two Lilly medicines used to treat MDR-TB to other manufacturers, and to improve prevention efforts and care for patients.

The Lilly Foundation has now committed US $30 million to support the partnership until 2016 and identified two areas of focus over this period:

• Providing training for healthcare providers, from professional healthcare workers such as nurses and doctors, to informal care givers, such as community volunteers.
• Improving supply and access to safe, effective and quality-assured second-line drugs

The Lilly MDR-TB Partnership will continue to work with partners at the global and local level, with a specific focus on organizations in the four countries with the highest burden of MDR-TB: China, India, Russia and South Africa.

In 2016, Lilly will conclude its role in The Lilly MDR-TB Partnership. Over the next five years, Lilly will support its partners to help ensure they are well positioned to carry on the partnership’s work.

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