HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria
HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria are considered three of the world’s most devastating communicable diseases affecting many of the world's poorest people. HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria are characterised as Poverty Related Diseases (PRDs) not only because poverty is their cause but also  because these diseases impede economic development and cause unnecessary death
and suffering to the populations affected.

The number of people living with HIV worldwide in 2007 was estimated at 33.2 million. 1.7 million people died from TB in 2006, including 231,000 people with HIV. This is equal to 4,500 deaths a day. Malaria kills more than 1 million people a year.

Preventing and treating these three PRDs is therefore a global research priority, requiring intensive cooperation and integration of efforts.

Clinical trials
Clinical research and clinical trials for preventing and treating HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria diseases has been identified as a main priority. Often, new tools for the prevention and treatment of the three diseases got stuck in the development pipeline. Market oppportunities were restricted, and research activities were fragmented and uncoordinated. New and specific requirements such as the need for multi-centre protocols, a demanding regulatory environment and universal ethical standards require well-coordinated and intensified effort in a genuine and innovative partnership with developing countries.

To ensure a sustainable environment for conducting clinical trials, EDCTP supports clinical trials by networking and capacity building, as can be seen by the following graph:

Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is the region which is worst affected by HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria:

• The number of people living with HIV worldwide in 2007 was estimated at 33.2 million. One in every three people in the world living with HIV lived in sub-Saharan Africa, a total of 22.5 million
• Over 1.5 million people are infected with TB in this region each year. In recent years this number has been rising rapidly, largely due to high prevalence of HIV
• 90% of malaria deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria kills 3000 children every day in Africa — that is a million a year.
  Therefore, there is an apparent urgency to bring research expenditure in that area in line with the size of the gap in expenditure. Depending on future developments, it may be required to extend the scope to other developing countries.