Collaborative public–private initiatives targeting multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) supported by the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership: experiences in 2012–2016

Since 2003, the Lilly Foundation has supported the noncommercial Lilly MDR-TB Partnership, which involves more than 45 local, national, global, and nongovernmental organizations and governments. The aim of the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership is to achieve significant global impact on multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) by addressing a series of important local health care needs in highly affected countries: China, India, Russia, and South Africa. The main focus of activities during 2012–2016 was on community needs in primary care. Supported projects seek to make meaningful and measurable progress toward global and national TB objectives. The partnership programs share an overall conceptual approach known as “research, report, advocate”, based on the piloting of novel approaches on a small scale, with outcomes assessed at early stages. The results are analyzed and communicated to governments, health-policy experts, and local and national stakeholders, including those in other countries facing similar MDR-TB challenges. For successful, cost-effective initiatives, the analysis is used as support when advocating for the scaling up of initiatives to regional or national levels. This article discusses representative examples of projects supported by the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership in the time period 2012–2016. The examples illustrate the potential for globally informed, locally designed primary-care collaborations to strengthen health care systems and support TB policies and offer observations to inform future health care public–private partnerships.