• DNDi_Logo_No-Tagline_Full Colour
  • Our work
    • Diseases
      • Sleeping sickness
      • Visceral leishmaniasis
      • Cutaneous leishmaniasis
      • Chagas disease
      • Filaria: river blindness
      • Mycetoma
      • Paediatric HIV
      • Cryptococcal meningitis
      • Hepatitis C
      • Dengue
      • Pandemic preparedness
      • Antimicrobial resistance
    • Research & development
      • R&D portfolio & list of projects
      • Drug discovery
      • Translational research
      • Clinical trials
      • Registration & access
      • Treatments delivered
    • Advocacy
      • Open and collaborative R&D
      • Transparency of R&D costs
      • Pro-access policies and IP
      • Children’s health
      • Gender equity
      • Climate change
      • AI and new technologies
  • Networks & partners
    • Partnerships
      • Our partners
      • Partnering with us
    • Global networks
      • Chagas Platform
      • Dengue Alliance
      • HAT Platform
      • LEAP Platform
      • redeLEISH Network
    • DNDi worldwide
      • DNDi Switzerland
      • DNDi DRC
      • DNDi Eastern Africa
      • DNDi Japan
      • DNDi Latin America
      • DNDi North America
      • DNDi South Asia
      • DNDi South-East Asia
  • News & resources
    • News & stories
      • News
      • Stories
      • Statements
      • Viewpoints
      • Social media
      • eNews Newsletter
    • Press
      • Press releases
      • In the media
      • Podcasts, radio & TV
      • Media workshops
    • Resources
      • Scientific articles
      • Our publications
      • Videos
    • Events
  • About us
    • About
      • Who we are
      • How we work
      • Our strategy
      • Our donors
      • Annual reports
      • Our prizes and awards
      • Our story: 20 years of DNDi
    • Our people
      • Our leadership
      • Our governance
      • Contact us
    • Work with us
      • Working at DNDi
      • Job opportunities
      • Requests for proposal
  • Donate
  • DNDi_Logo_No-Tagline_Full Colour
  • Our work
    • Diseases
      • Sleeping sickness
      • Visceral leishmaniasis
      • Cutaneous leishmaniasis
      • Chagas disease
      • Filaria: river blindness
      • Mycetoma
      • Paediatric HIV
      • Cryptococcal meningitis
      • Hepatitis C
      • Dengue
      • Pandemic preparedness
      • Antimicrobial resistance
    • Research & development
      • R&D portfolio & list of projects
      • Drug discovery
      • Translational research
      • Clinical trials
      • Registration & access
      • Treatments delivered
    • Advocacy
      • Open and collaborative R&D
      • Transparency of R&D costs
      • Pro-access policies and IP
      • Children’s health
      • Gender equity
      • Climate change
      • AI and new technologies
  • Networks & partners
    • Partnerships
      • Our partners
      • Partnering with us
    • Global networks
      • Chagas Platform
      • Dengue Alliance
      • HAT Platform
      • LEAP Platform
      • redeLEISH Network
    • DNDi worldwide
      • DNDi Switzerland
      • DNDi DRC
      • DNDi Eastern Africa
      • DNDi Japan
      • DNDi Latin America
      • DNDi North America
      • DNDi South Asia
      • DNDi South-East Asia
  • News & resources
    • News & stories
      • News
      • Stories
      • Statements
      • Viewpoints
      • Social media
      • eNews Newsletter
    • Press
      • Press releases
      • In the media
      • Podcasts, radio & TV
      • Media workshops
    • Resources
      • Scientific articles
      • Our publications
      • Videos
    • Events
  • About us
    • About
      • Who we are
      • How we work
      • Our strategy
      • Our donors
      • Annual reports
      • Our prizes and awards
      • Our story: 20 years of DNDi
    • Our people
      • Our leadership
      • Our governance
      • Contact us
    • Work with us
      • Working at DNDi
      • Job opportunities
      • Requests for proposal
  • Donate
Home > Press releases

Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through KfW grants funding to fast-track access to medicines for poverty-related and neglected diseases

Home > Press releases

Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through KfW grants funding to fast-track access to medicines for poverty-related and neglected diseases

Healthcare worker with patient
Geneva and Berlin — 3 Dec 2023
  • English
    • English
    • Deutsch

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the KfW Development Bank has awarded DNDi a five-year EUR 20 million grant to support faster access to treatments for people affected by poverty-related and neglected diseases (PRNDs) in priority countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

PRNDs affect mainly poor, hard-to-reach, and marginalized populations. Without appropriate diagnosis and treatment, they can result in severe illness, chronic disease and disfigurement, or death and push already vulnerable communities further into poverty and marginalization. Despite some progress, medicines to treat many of these diseases are often difficult to access in low- and middle-income countries.

Working with public and private sector partners in countries heavily impacted by PRNDs, DNDi’s BMZ-supported project will implement cross-cutting interventions to increase access to testing and treatment. These will focus on improving supply levels and reducing patient and health system costs – for example, through pooled procurement mechanisms, creating demand by raising awareness and knowledge of diseases and available treatments, and removing systemic barriers to access, such as by registering medicines in priority countries.

The project will carry out targeted activities to improve disease management and access to new and improved treatments developed by DNDi and others for sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, helminth infections, mycetoma, dengue, paediatric HIV, and cryptococcal meningitis. The project’s ultimate objectives are to ensure sustainable access to available treatments, bolster ‘test-and-treat’ programmes, build health system capacity, and support the adoption of improved treatment guidelines and public health policies.

Dirk Meyer, Director General, Multilateral Development Policy, Transformation, Climate, Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany announcing the grant at the 2023 Reaching The Last Mile Forum
Christoph Tiskens, Director Eastern Africa & African Union, KfW Development Bank and Dr Luis Pizarro, Executive Director, DNDi

‘We are extremely grateful to the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the KfW Development Bank for placing their trust in DNDi and supporting our mission to improve the lives of neglected populations,’ said Dr Luis Pizarro, Executive Director of DNDi. ‘We count on strong partnerships to drive medical innovation and treatment access to improve the health and quality of life of millions of people at risk of these devastating diseases.’

Aligned with German development policy and the One Health approach, the project aims to support the achievement of universal health coverage (UHC) and the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in low- and middle-income countries, positively impacting the lives of the poorest and most neglected communities. This funding builds upon the successful outcomes of over 12 years of support for DNDi research and development programmes from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through KfW.

‘The most vulnerable people – poor people, older people, people with disabilities – suffer most from neglected diseases,’ said Svenja Schulze, Development Minister, German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. ‘And they suffer not only from the physical health consequences, but also from the stigmatization and exclusion these illnesses provoke. This is why it is so important to support the fight against neglected diseases. This new project will help ensure access to the latest medical technologies, including in the most remote settings – and for the poorest and most marginalized communities.’

About DNDi

The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) is a not-for-profit medical research organization that discovers, develops, and delivers safe, effective, and affordable treatments for neglected people. DNDi is developing medicines for sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, river blindness, mycetoma, dengue, paediatric HIV, cryptococcal meningitis, and hepatitis C. Its research priorities include children’s health, gender equity and gender-responsive R&D, and diseases impacted by climate change. Since its creation in 2003, DNDi has joined with public and private partners across the globe to deliver twelve new treatments, saving millions of lives. dndi.org

About the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and KfW Development Bank

KfW Development Bank has been helping the German Federal Government to achieve its goals in development policy and international development cooperation for more than 60 years. KfW Development Bank is both an experienced bank and a development institution with financing expertise, with expert knowledge of development policy and many years of national and international experience. On behalf of the German Federal Government, and primarily the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), we finance and support programmes and projects that mainly involve public sector players in developing countries and emerging economies – from their conception and execution to monitoring their success. Our goal is to help our partner countries fight poverty, maintain peace, protect the environment, and shape globalisation in an appropriate way.

Media contact

DNDi
Frédéric Ojardias
+41 79 431 62 16 
fojardias@dndi.org 

Photo credit: Ana Ferreira-DNDi

Funding

Read, watch, share

Loading...
News
6 Jun 2025

DNDi is partnering with Médecins Sans Frontières South Asia for the Without Borders Media Fellowship 2025 

News
5 Jun 2025

Meet the DNDi Eastern Africa 2024-2025 Media Fellows

Press releases
5 Jun 2025

Colombia becomes first country to recommend rapid tests to diagnose Chagas disease

Statements
27 May 2025

DNDi interventions at the 78th World Health Assembly

Press releases
22 May 2025

Six African nations commit to eliminate deadly neglected disease visceral leishmaniasis

Videos
20 May 2025

The Children of the Sierra

Press releases
13 May 2025

First all-oral treatment for a rare but deadly strain of sleeping sickness now available and being used to treat patients in endemic countries in Africa

Statements
8 May 2025

DNDi’s briefing note for 78th World Health Assembly

VIEW ALL

Help neglected patients

To date, we have delivered thirteen new treatments, saving millions of lives.

Our goal is to deliver 25 new treatments in our first 25 years. You can help us get there. 

GIVE NOW
Linkedin-in Instagram Twitter Facebook-f Youtube
International non-profit developing safe, effective, and affordable treatments for the most neglected patients.

Learn more

  • Diseases
  • Neglected tropical diseases
  • R&D portfolio
  • Policy advocacy

Get in touch

  • Our offices
  • Contact us
  • Integrity Line

Support us

  • Donate
  • Subscribe to eNews

Work with us

  • Join research networks
  • Jobs
  • RFPs
  • Terms of Use   
  •   Acceptable Use Policy   
  •   Privacy Policy   
  •   Cookie Policy   
  •   Our policies   

  • Except for images, films and trademarks which are subject to DNDi’s Terms of Use, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Switzerland License