ABSTRACT
The work of Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) is based on the principal of assigning responsibility to working scientists for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of research. Encouraging results have been reported from a trial carried out outside TDR of a vaccine combined with drugs for the treatment of severe lepromatous leprosy, and further trials are in progress. TDR is by design a goal-oriented program, and seeks to avoid this danger by placing scientific decisions in the hands of scientists, and by regarding its research plans as guidelines rather than rigid straitjackets. Aid to underprivileged populations in tropical countries to improve their health is a major priority of the World Health Organization (WHO). In 1974 the World Health Assembly resolved that WHO intensify its activities in the field of research on major tropical diseases, and cooperate with national authorities in the coordination of this research.
