The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the India Health Fund (IHF) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish a strategic partnership focused on strengthening resilient, sustainable, innovative, and inclusive health systems across Asia and the Pacific. The MOU was formalized on 8^th July, during the INSPIRE Health Forum 2025 held in Manila, Philippines.

This collaboration aims to leverage the complementary strengths of IHF and ADB to achieve the shared goal of strengthening health systems and enabling universal healthcare. IHF provides catalytic funding to de-risk and validate science and technology-led product innovations, service delivery approaches and evidence-to-action toward solving complex public health challenges. ADB brings regional development expertise, policy advocacy, and financing capacity to scale solutions across Asia and the Pacific. The partnership aims to bridge the critical gaps between early-stage public health innovation to scale.

Under the MOU, ADB and IHF will jointly work on initiatives across a range of critical areas, including:

• Support resilient, sustainable, inclusive and pandemic-prepared health systems at national, regional, and community levels in Developing Member Countries (DMCs), including India.
• Accelerate the development, validation, and deployment of innovations in diagnostics, surveillance, treatment, and service delivery for persistent infectious and tropical diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, and dengue, and other infectious diseases which are increasing in prevalence due to climate change.
• Piloting and scaling point-of-care and digital health solutions in urban and rural microsites for evidence generation, policy integration, and knowledge dissemination.
• Advancing action on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), maternal and child health, and the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), particularly among vulnerable populations.
• Engaging the private sector to enhance its role as a provider of innovative products, services, and technologies by enabling co-funding, market access, and regulatory navigation.
• Promoting regional knowledge exchange, the advancement of innovations, strengthening of global health security, and advocacy in support of scalable public health solutions.

Leaders’ speak:

Ms. Ayako Inagaki, Senior Director, Human and Social Development Sector Office, ADB Sectors Department 3, Asian Development Bank:

“At ADB, we recognize that infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, and addressing the adverse health impacts of climate change are emerging threats and concerns that demand urgent, coordinated action. Our partnership with IHF enables us to connect regional financing and health system strengthening with local innovation. Together, we aim to identify and scale transformative solutions to improve lives and build healthier, more resilient communities across Asia and the Pacific.”

Mr. Madhav Joshi, Chief Executive Officer, India Health Fund:

“This MOU marks an important step in combining IHF’s ability to provide catalytic funding to de-risk health innovations with ADB’s strength in financing scale and policy impact. Our shared focus is on enabling innovative approaches to address emerging priorities in public health including climate-sensitive diseases, women’s health, and non-communicable diseases. This reflects the potential of our partnership, with IHF driving innovation from India and ADB leveraging its regional platform and financing capabilities delivering to delivery health equity across the region.”

About the organisations:

India Health Fund (IHF)

India Health Fund (IHF) was set up by Tata Trusts in 2017 with the aim of generating a catalytic effect on the financing of India’s progress towards elimination of infectious diseases like TB, malaria and other vector borne diseases. IHF supports the development and validation of promising science and technology- based solutions with the potential to improve patient outcomes and strengthen primary care health systems – with a particular focus on vulnerable, and underserved communities. IHF’s critical support for projects at an early stage of development helps bridge the gap in public and private funding, especially in public health markets that serve vulnerable and underserved communities. This de-risking of development and the evidence from pilot scale deployment with philanthropic funds facilitates collaborations for the adoption and scale-up of these innovations by government and other partners and helps catalyze additional funding towards the journey from lab to patient. 

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

ADB is a leading multilateral development bank supporting inclusive, resilient, and sustainable growth across Asia and the Pacific. ADB works with its members and partners to solve complex challenges, harnessing innovative financial tools and strategic partnerships to transform lives, build quality infrastructure, and safeguard the planet. Founded in 1966, ADB is owned by 69 members, 50 from the region.