The Eli Lilly and Company Foundation has committed $30 million in funding to support The Lilly MDR-TB Partnership in its fight against multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis in developing countries with special focus on India, Russia, China and South Africa.

 In India, two deaths occur every three minutes from Tuberculosis despite the fact that they can be prevented. The focus of the foundation will remain to be providing training for healthcare providers and improving supply and access to safe, effective and quality-assured drugs, a release said here.

The Lilly MDR-TB partnership was originally launched in 2003 to strengthen the global battle against MDR-TB which was further expanded in 2007. As the third and final stage of partnership, The Lilly foundation has now committed an additional US $30 million for the countries (India, Russia, China and South Africa) where disease burden is very high.

The Lilly MDR TB partnership has been an especially effective public-private initiative in India. It has been working in close collaboration with the Government of India’s RNTCP since 2004 to assist in implementation of the DOTS Plus Program in various states.

With the additional US $30 million in funding, Lilly and the Lilly Foundation will have committed a total of US$ 165 million from 2003-2016 in cash, product and in-kind services and material to The Lilly MDR-TB Partnership and external early drug discovery efforts for TB.

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 – with the ultimate goal of sharing learnings with the global health community so that successful solutions can be sustained and replicated around the world.

“We are very proud to make this announcement today. Yet, our financial contribution is small compared to the billions of dollars needed to fight MDR-TB. We cannot solve this global challenge alone, but – given our unique experience and capabilities – we will continue to play an important role as a catalyst,” said John C. Lechleiter, Ph.D., Eli Lilly and Company chairman, president and chief executive officer. “Our goal over the next five years is to focus the partnership on finding effective new approaches that improve patient outcomes and that can be replicated by others,” he said in the statement.