About us

ADP works to ensure that people in low- and middle-income countries have access to life-saving health technologies – medicines, vaccines and diagnostic tools – with an emphasis on those technologies that address tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases.

The partners

ADP brings together the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) and PATH in a unique partnership that helps identify and strengthen capacity gaps in low- and middle-income countries in an innovative and integrated way.

Strengthening national health systems

In line with the overarching approach of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, ADP adopts a systemic and integrated perspective towards health system strengthening, aimed at the interlinked targets of eliminating communicable and infectious diseases and achieving real progress towards universal health coverage.

Supporting national responses to COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical importance of ensuring equitable access to health services, as well as increasing availability of medicines, vaccines and diagnostic tools in response to established and emerging health threats.

Regional, global and
South-South cooperation

Focusing on common challenges across different health systems, ADP leverages the experiences and expertise of its network of stakeholders to deliver both policy lessons and technical solutions.

Focus countries

ADP collaborates with stakeholders in a number of focus countries – Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Malawi, Senegal, United Republic of Tanzania and Thailand
– to implement a range of capacity-strengthening interventions, which are in line with the ADP strategic approach of leveraging the expertise of its four core partners and working across sectors to help strengthen and harmonize policies, regulations and systems, as well as build the capacities of key people and institutions.

Uniting Efforts

The global response to the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted how close collaboration among multiple stakeholders can overcome major hurdles to the development, approval and delivery of new medicines, vaccines and diagnostic tools. But opportunities for such intense collaboration are rare, and access to new health technologies remains uneven.

Knowledge products

ADP knowledge products advance learning and contribute to improved policies, programmes and practices, as well as demonstrate human impact on the ground.

TDR Implementation research toolkit

This toolkit is designed to help teams conduct implementation research projects through a standard process to ensure reliable, high-quality results.

COVID-19 diagnostics procurement resource

An interactive tool to support procurement decisions by aggregating and streamlining publicly available information about the technical specifications, regulatory status and supply of COVID-19 diagnostic tests.

A pipeline analysis of new products for malaria, tuberculosis and neglected tropical diseases

This working paper provides a comprehensive survey of new medicines, diagnostics and vaccines for malaria, TB and selected NTDs, that are currently in the pipeline for market entry by 2020.

Digital Health for Development Hub

A one-stop shop with technical, advisory and partnership support for scaling up digital health solutions.

News

Strengthening capacities for improving TB drug safety monitoring

Posted March 22, 2024 By ADP

TB health clinic in Nigeria. Photo: National TB Programme of Nigeria.

Since 2021, TDR (the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases), in partnership with the Access and Delivery Partnership (ADP) and the WHO Global TB programme, has been supporting the West and Central Africa Regional Network for Tuberculosis (TB) control (WARN/CARN-TB) to improve the capacity of West and Central African national TB programmes to implement active Drug Surveillance and Management (aDSM).

A survey of 27 National Tuberculosis Programmes (NTPs) participating in the networks revealed specific barriers and needs for implementing aDSM. One of them was the lack of frontline health care workers’ capacities to detect, manage and report adverse drug reactions.

Because of the introduction of new, shorter drug-resistant TB treatment regimens, which require close monitoring of expected side effects, the NTP coordinators of the WARN/CARN-TB discussed the urgent need to strengthen capacities in the region. A WARN-TB/CARN-TB working group was established with representatives of the national TB programmes and of the pharmacovigilance departments to develop (1) a generic guideline and standard procedure for effective implementation of aDSM and (2) a training pack to aid specific audiences (health care workers, NTP managers and pharmacovigilance managerial staff) to successfully implement aDSM.

The training pack is based on WHO Global TB Programme training materials developed in 2016. This includes background and an overview of aDSM, basic components of aDSM and sessions on implementing aDSM in approximately 25 presentations and interactive sessions. It is available in French and English.

The training pack is accompanied by a training guide to serve as a resource document for organizing and delivering the training. Trainers will usually be country focal points with experience in aDSM or pharmacists.

This material is available on the TDR website: Active TB drug safety monitoring and management (aDSM). It has already been successfully used in Burkina Faso and Senegal.

For more information, please contact Dr Corinne Merle.

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