Gilead Renews WHO Partnership to Fight Deadly Kala-Azar

Gilead Sciences Inc. has renewed its five-year collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), committing funding, strategic support and product donations to accelerate progress toward eliminating visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar, a deadly, parasitic, sandfly-borne illness that attacks internal organs and can be fatal if untreated.

Ending Visceral Leishmaniasis

The expanded agreement aims to improve access to life-saving diagnostic services and treatment for some of the world’s most vulnerable communities, with a sharpened focus on high-burden countries in East Africa.

“Ending visceral leishmaniasis is within reach because of sustained commitment and investment,” said Daniel O’Day, Chairman and CEO, Gilead Sciences. “Through the work to expand access to diagnosis and treatment for the disease, we have already made significant progress in endemic regions. With this expanded collaboration and stronger focus on East Africa, we will accelerate progress toward elimination and help ensure more people can access the care they need to survive.”

As part of this collaboration, Gilead will donate more than 400,000 vials of AmBisome (amphotericin B) liposome for injection and $9.2 million in financial support through 2030. Gilead’s donations will support countries representing approximately 74% of the global VL burden, including Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Eritrea, India, Kenya, Nepal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda and Yemen, with expanded support in Chad and Djibouti.

Dr. Jeremy Farrar, Assistant Director-General, Health Promotion, Disease Prevention and Care, WHO, said, “Over the next five years, this collaboration will help expand access to essential tools, foster innovation, and reinforce health systems where the burden is greatest.”

Since the start of the elimination program in Southeast Asia in 2005, this longstanding partnership with WHO has helped reduce new cases of VL by more than 95% in that region, significantly lowering the overall disease burden. In 2023, Bangladesh achieved a major milestone, with WHO validating the elimination of VL as a public health problem.