TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, is a global programme of scientific collaboration that helps facilitate, support and influence efforts to combat diseases of poverty. It is hosted at the World Health Organization (WHO), and is sponsored by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank and WHO. For over forty years TDR has pursued its vision of bringing the power of research and innovation to improve the health and well-being of those burdened by infectious diseases of poverty. It achieves this through developing research capacity in disease-affected countries and in doing so fostering an effective global research effort that promotes the translation of innovation to health impact in disease endemic countries.
As new tools have become available, there are growing challenges to the health care systems to ensure that the drugs, diagnostics, vaccines, and vector control products are designed for the conditions in which they are used, reach the right place, at the right time, in the right quantities—and are delivered appropriately.
Previously, there was more funding in basic research and insufficient investment into product development. Publicly reported funding data helped illuminate the gaps and raise commitments toward addressing what was called the valley of death.
Today the question is whether there is enough funding into research for implementation that would improve access to the health products and services now available, and how well what is funded is aligned to the product pipeline and health system needs. Is there a second valley of death?
This session will provide an overview of the “One TDR” approach in bringing together expertise in research capacity strengthening, research implementation and research priority setting, to provide solutions that can be put into practice to improve the health of neglected populations. Findings from a review that was conducted on malaria “research for implementation” funding, including implementation research, operational research, and health systems research will be presented, including implications for better aligning research for implementation with the product pipeline and funding flows.