Global health programs have made great strides in the last ten years, mobilizing billions of dollars to provide life-saving drugs and immunizations to people in resource-poor settings. But these myriad initiatives need to get in step to improve integration of healthcare delivery.

The last decade has seen an explosion in global health spending. Bold measures from nonprofits and government have led to a record number of medications distributed to treat a number of global killers. The World Health Organization has estimated, for example, that the number of people with HIV/AIDS in low- and middle-income countries receiving antiretroviral therapy increased 12-fold from 2003 to reach 5.2 million in 2009. But putting cheap and free medicines in clinics isn’t enough, and won’t ensure that the products reach sick people. As such, health programs designed to tackle epidemics in developing countries will never fulfill their ultimate missions unless they get smarter about how to coordinate the distribution of drugs and vaccines.

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