For more than 130 years, Eli Lilly and Company has been a global health innovator. We are pleased to continue this tradition with an important public-private partnership to address the expanding global crisis of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The shared goal of all participants in the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership is to save lives by preventing and treating MDR-TB.

There are an estimated 450'000 new cases of MDR-TB around the world every year, and some of the hardest hit countries are China, India, Russia and South Africa. Most public health experts agree this is a conservative number due to inadequate surveillance. Even worse, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the average person with MDR-TB infects up to 20 other people in his or her lifetime. Clearly, this pandemic requires a massive mobilization of people and resources to address it.

With our partners, Lilly has launched a multi-pronged philanthropic program to fight MDR-TB, involving both private and public health care professionals, academia, patients and community advocacy, international organizations, and producers of medicines in developing regions. We are pursuing a comprehensive strategy to gain control over the disease by increasing drug supply through the World Health Organization and discounting our prices; providing training for prevention, early diagnosis, treatment, and surveillance; and sharing drug-manufacturing technology with pharmaceutical companies in the nations most at risk. The Lilly MDR-TB Partnership also addresses policy issues with governments in different nations to ensure that sound strategies for MDR-TB management are in place, and to work toward stopping the spread of this disease. We believe this integrated approach can save lives and is an essential step toward reversing one of the world's deadliest pandemics.

Through this innovative application of resources and expertise, Lilly is determined to provide Answers That Matter. I invite you to browse through our website for additional details about this exciting and life-saving endeavor.

Progress Report

I am pleased to report that, since the announcement of the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership in June 2003, we have made excellent progress in delivering on our promises.

We have successfully completed the expansion of our Speke manufacturing plant in Liverpool, England, allowing us to double our capacity for producing capreomycin, one of two Lilly antibiotics used in treating MDR-TB, and a last defense against these deadly strains.

We are in the midst of transferring Lilly drug-manufacturing technology and expertise for both of our MDR-TB antibiotics to four pharmaceutical companies in countries with the highest MDR-TB burdens. We are working hand in hand with Aspen Pharmacare in South Africa, Hisun Pharmaceutical in China, Shasun Chemicals and Drugs in India, and SIA International in Russia.

Since greater public awareness about MDR-TB and its proper diagnosis and treatment are so important, Harvard Medical School and Partners in Health (PIH) have, with Lilly’s support, established a Center of Excellence in Tomsk, Russia to train doctors in treating MDR-TB. PIH members are also working with Russian health officials to develop national MDR-TB standards. Lilly also collaborated with the International Council of Nurses (ICN) in the development of international TB and MDR-TB training guidelines and programs that are fine-tuned for nurses, an overlooked constituency in many countries.

With Lilly’s support, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has developed MDR-TB awareness and outreach programs that have already been implemented in Kazakhstan, Romania, and Uzbekistan. Lilly also worked with the World Medical Association (WMA) to craft an MDR-TB Internet training course for doctors, which expands the audience to private physicians, in addition to those working in the public sector. Recognizing the critical need to control the spread of infections in hospitals, Lilly supports work by the International Hospital Federation (IHF) to produce a TB and MDR-TB training manual for hospital managers.

Lilly assists the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in developing a state of the art laboratory-based electronic surveillance system to monitor drug resistance in Russia. In support of the World Health Organization’s DOTS-Plus program (Directly Observed Treatment short course, for MDR-TB patients), Lilly has doubled the quantity of drugs that we provide to the WHO at discounted prices.

Recognizing the crucial role that the business community can play in public health, Lilly is collaborating with the World Economic Forum (WEF) to engage corporations in increasing awareness, prevention and treatment of TB in the workplace. The WEF recently spearheaded the creation of the Business Alliance to Stop TB in India.

Lilly is proud to be a part of the vital efforts of the Stop TB Partnership, a global network of multilateral institutions, governments, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector, in the battle against TB. We fully endorse its Global Plan to Stop TB, an important roadmap for preventing 14 million deaths by 2015. Lilly is also proud to support TB Alert, a vital source for patient support and advocacy. Everyone engaged in the fight to eradicate TB and MDR-TB is also grateful to the generous financial commitments of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.