About FIND > Message from the CEO

Message from the CEO

Dear friends, colleagues and partners. Welcome to our website. The Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) was launched on 22 May 2003 at the World Health Assembly in Geneva. This brief message will serve to introduce you to the organization and may encourage you to participate actively in this dynamic new initiative.

Why FIND? Because there is an urgent and unmet need for more accurate and cost-effective diagnostic technologies, particularly for diseases devastating the developing world. Major progress has been made in diagnosing diseases that affect affluent societies, yet diseases that annually kill millions in poor countries remain overlooked.

What will FIND do? The Foundation is developing and validating affordable and novel diagnostic tests for diseases in high-burden countries, working in close collaboration with WHO/TDR, the diagnostics industry and other organizations. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation lent their support to the initiative with an initial grant of $30 million over a 5-year period.

New technologies have revolutionized the simplicity, speed and accuracy of diagnostic tools for identifying diseases in the developed world. However, health care in the developing world has yet to benefit from these innovations in biotechnology and modern science, in particular the public health sector. A major drawback is the absence of a bridge that can effectively link academic research and the diagnostic industry to the specific needs of developing countries. FIND provides this bridge by leveraging the strengths of its diverse partners to develop technological platforms for diagnosing poverty-related diseases in the public, as well as the private, health sector. But this will only happen if leaders in these sectors collaborate to achieve attainable goals.

What is FIND? The Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. It is governed by a board composed of public health experts, business leaders, influential scientists and patient representatives. Working with specialized agencies, academia and civil society, FIND’s non-profit status also allows close partnerships with industry to target investment toward improved diagnostic services at all levels of the health system in developing countries. FIND’s mission is based on three beliefs:

1) good health is essential for enabling underprivileged people to end the chronic cycle of poverty,

2) disadvantaged people will only be able to achieve good health if the overall health system is strong and accessible, and

3) central to strengthening the health system and thus impacting the epidemiology of poverty related diseases, is the development and deployment of simple, accurate and reliable diagnostic products that can be used at all levels of the health system. Revolutionizing Disease Control with Innovation in New Diagnostics [presentation pdf 365kb]

What role can you play? Success will depend on the contributions of all partners and stakeholders. We welcome comments from all audiences describing what you would like to see, in terms of content, facilities and services on our website. Our lines of business are firmly evidence-based and solutions-oriented. Reflecting this, the FIND website will be structured on the needs assessment provided by feedback from our audience, users and partners.

Giorgio Roscigno
Chief Executive Officer
info@finddiagnostics.org