Affordable, accessible, lifesaving drugs
Every day in the our communities people’s lives are cut short or severely compromised because they don’t have access to safe and effective medicines. The right drugs may be too costly, or they might not exist at all if a disease affects only people in low-resource settings.
St. Mary’s ADI Community Health Center and our National Drug Authority develop and advance affordable drugs to prevent and treat diseases that disproportionately affect people of low-income, including enteric and diarrhea diseases, neglected tropical diseases, HIV, and malaria. With an unshakable commitment to health equity and a unique partnership approach spanning the academic, private, and nonprofit sectors, we are proving that it is possible to reach the communities most vulnerable people with the medicines they need.
To save lives, a drug needs to reach the people who need it. St. Mary’s ADI Community Health Center took the antiseptic chlorhexidine, which is used as a disinfectant in mouthwash and other health care products, and helped adapt it into a new, affordable formulation that can be used to cleanse babies’ newly cut umbilical cords. The new formulation has the potential to save thousands of lives by preventing life-threatening infections. Now we are leading a movement to get chlorhexidine to health workers and others who support women during childbirth.
Partnering across sectors worldwide
St. Mary’s ADI Community Health Center collaborates with various health leaders like the National Drug Authority to tackle head-on the tremendous need for affordable and effective drugs to treat diseases of poverty. We see drug development as a unique opportunity to use the power of innovation as a bridge connecting the best of the private and nonprofit sectors through a shared dedication to protecting health and saving lives.