The clinical trial could be funded by the government or by global not-for-profits. A multilateral agency like WHO would perhaps want to review and monitor the trial process.

If any one hinge is not in place the entire edifice could fall. It is vital to have the support of all partners in this endeavour. We urgently need partnerships which are cross sectoral interactions aimed at achieving convergent objectives. Right now kala azar and poverty feed on each other, creating a vicious circle. This has to be replaced by a virtuous triangle — authorising environment (government, multilateral agencies, not-for-profits) has to combine with operational capacity (government capacity for speedy approval and industry capacity to produce in robust quantities) to produce public value (eradication of kala azar).

If we can do it with kala azar, we can do it with other diseases.

The writer is a lawyer and Mumbai-based management consultant