Partnerships

Photo: WHO

FIND stands at the intersection of all who are working to improve public health services in developing countries. We have active collaborations with over 150 partners, including ministries of health, bilateral and multilateral organizations, research and academic institutes, commercial partners, NGOs and over 80 clinical trial sites.

Partnerships that make a difference

Since its establishment, FIND has relied on partnerships as the key to addressing the challenges of both research and development (R&D) for poverty-related diseases.

We act as a bridge between the public and private sectors, which have sometimes historically not seen eye to eye on issues related to global health. FIND’s unique position allows us to bring together a diverse set of partners, helping them resolve technical, financial and logistical barriers to innovation, and constantly keeping the focus on the development of safe and effective diagnostic tests for developing countries. FIND combines specific skills and resources from each project partner in order to achieve greatest impact as quickly as possible.

FIND provides the link between:

• Commercial companies, which have the technological know-how, but may not have the financial incentives necessary to invest heavily in poverty-related diseases, nor a deep understanding of the disease-causing agents

• Academic world, which is often focused on basic research and conceptual innovation, but is ill-equipped for product development

• International public health organizations and various NGOs and foundations, which play a major role in access to diagnostic products in endemic country markets

• Public donors or philanthropic organizations, which provide essential funding but are not implementers, and

• Ministries of health and disease control programmes, which manage healthcare systems in endemic countries but do not develop the technologies.

However, FIND does not just focus on product development. To ensure that our products have the intended impact on people in resource-poor settings, we also focus on laboratory strengthening and the roll out of new diagnostic tools.