Access to Healthcare
John Mwangi: Drug Abuse, Its effects and the journey to reforming
John Mwangi is a patient at MSF´s Methadone Assisted Therapy (MAT) clinic in Kiambu, set up to reduce harm amongst people who use drugs. Coming to the clinic and getting off heroin has changed his life, allowing him to be welcomed back into his family. In commemoration of the International Overdose Awareness Day, marked annually on August 31st to raise awareness of overdoses, reduce the stigma of drug-related deaths and acknowledge the grief felt by families and friends, John shares his story. Article - 1 Sep 2021
Natural Disasters
From reactive to proactive: how MSF in Beira is stepping up its disaster response preparations
Natural disasters, such as floods, cyclones, drought and earthquakes, have had a significant impact on Mozambique’s people. Cyclone Idai made landfall in the eastern city of Beira, the capital of Sofala province, on 14 March 2019. Within days it had reduced 80 per cent of the city to ruins and left over 600 people dead and more than 1,600 injured. Article - 17 Aug 2021
Hepatitis
Launch of public health partnership to tackle the silent epidemic of hepatitis C in low- and middle-income countries
Hepatitis C PACT will work in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe –collaborating with ‘champion countries’ that are already revolutionizing hepatitis care Press Release - 28 Jul 2021
Access to Healthcare
South Africa Unrest: Supporting overstretched health centres and vulnerable communities in the aftermath of the violence
Over 270 people were reported killed in riots and looting that also disrupted access to crucial healthcare services, food, fuel and other essentials. Trucks, stores and shopping malls were burned and looted, as well as 90 pharmacies and some medical centres. Article - 27 Jul 2021
Meningitis
Breakthrough in treatment of HIV-related cryptococcal meningitis gives Gilead another opportunity to fulfil its promise to scale up access to lifesaving drug
Access to affordable liposomal amphotericin B (L-AmB) crucial to ending cryptococcal meningitis deaths by 2030 Press Release - 22 Jul 2021
Tuberculosis
MSF: Governments off track on providing tools to prevent TB, the second biggest infectious disease killer after COVID-19
Geneva, 15 June 2021 – As the World Health Organization (WHO) convenes a ‘call to action’ tomorrow on the need to scale up access to preventive treatment for tuberculosis (TB), the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) urged all governments to support and ramp up the implementation of TB preventive treatment (TPT), and demanded that pharmaceutical and diagnostics corporations make all drugs and tests needed to implement TPT accessible and affordable for those in need Press Release - 15 Jun 2021
HIV/AIDS
MSF statement concerning intellectual property and access to medicines in the 2021 UN High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS Declaration
2 June 2021 - As negotiations continue on the declaration for the upcoming UN High-Level Meeting (HLM) on HIV/AIDS, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) urges all member states to recognise and retain the full rights and use of internationally agreed public health safeguards enshrined in the Agreement on Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) for access to affordable generic antiretroviral (ARV) drugs and other medicines for HIV. Opinion - 7 Jun 2021
HIV/AIDS
UN HIV declaration must throw a lifeline to people with Advanced HIV Disease
Can we do what needs to be done to stop people dying from HIV/AIDS? Maybe – but only if we pay more attention to the people who are most at risk of dying. World leaders will discuss the next steps in the fight against the disease at the UN High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS on the 8-10th of June 2021. The political declaration they’re expected to adopt, must contain clear and tangible commitments to tackle HIV related mortality and a specific focus on early detection and treatment of the main killer diseases linked to Advanced HIV Disease (AHD or AIDS). Opinion - 7 Jun 2021
Access to Healthcare
People struggling to find food, shelter, water after east DRC volcano eruption
Nearly two weeks after the eruption of volcano Mount Nyiragongo, in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), many people are struggling to survive in the areas to where they fled. Despite ongoing seismic activity and official warnings, many displaced people are returning to Goma searching for food, water, and medical care. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is scaling up our support, but more humanitarian aid is still urgently needed. Crisis Update - 4 Jun 2021
Access to medicines