The European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) was created in 2003 as a European response to the global health crisis caused by the three main poverty-related diseases of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. These diseases account for over 6 million deaths each year, and the numbers are growing. Sub-Saharan Africa is the world's worst-affected region where besides ravaging lives, they impede development and cause poverty.

Mission
EDCTP aims to accelerate the development of new or improved drugs, vaccines and microbicides against HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, with a focus on phase II and III clinical trials in sub-Saharan Africa.

EDCTP supports multicentre projects which combine clinical trials, capacity building and networking. The aim of integrating these three activities is to ensure that the developed capacity is utilised to successfully conduct the clinical trials in a sustainable way.

The basis of EDCTP is partnership. It unites the 14 participating European Union (EU) Member States plus Norway and Switzerland with sub-Saharan African countries. The partnership helps EU Member States to integrate and coordinate their own national research and development programmes and form partnerships with their African counterparts. All EDCTP-funded projects are undertaken in partnership with sub-Saharan countries. The partnership ensures synergy and optimal use of resources, and creates a win-win situation for all parties involved.

EDCTP is currently part of the European Commission’s Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) for research and technological development, the European Union’s main instrument for funding research in Europe. FP6 aims to transform the European Union into a dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy. At the end of the programme in 2010 EDCTP is anticipated to move to the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

List of the EDCTP-EEIG member states
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

List of Sub Saharan African countries
Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.