slideshow: No Choice: Thousands risk death crossing Gulf of Aden
Chagas: it's time to break the silence
Millions of people are infected with Chagas disease yet they do not know.
They can die in silence, without asking for help, without knowing why. An MSF specialty site focusing on Chagas
WAD: Put your HIV drug patents in the pool
On World AIDS Day, we are asking nine drug companies to listen to the millions without access to adequate AIDS treatment. We’ll be turning up the volume: PUT YOUR HIV DRUG PATENTS IN THE POOL !!!!!!!!! Find out more...
MSF feature website for World AIDS Day, 2009
South Africa: In the streets of Khayelitsha, a sprawling township on the outskirts of Cape Town, there is a saying, "Living with HIV, dying from TB."
Here it is painfully clear that the global HIV/AIDS emergency is not over, while 33 million people in the world today still live with the disease that wipes out 2 million live easy year.
The conflict continues. The people of Eastern Congo continue to be attacked, raped and robbed; continue to flee in search of safety; continue to lose their loved ones and their own lives. Their wounds, inner and outer, continue to multiply.
Condition: Critical, a year long MSF project aiming to give a voice to the people living through the war in Eastern Congo (DRC). Please watch the video, then visit the Condition: Critical website to leave a message of support for the people of Eastern Congo. MSF will take a selection of these messages to the areas where we work for the people who have taken part in the project and for the thousands who have similar stories from the war.
“We often hear horrific stories from our patients about what they endure during the journey,” said Antonio Virgilio, MSF head of mission in Italy and Malta. “They have crossed the desert, been locked up in prisons where they have been given no food or water, they have been mistreated, beaten up, women have been raped. They go through hell before they finally manage to get on a boat to Italy or Malta. And now they are being sent back to relive this nightmare all over again. This is a huge threat to their health and even their lives.”
On November 18 and 19 the Sierra Leone Investment and Donor Conference will be held in London, which will bring together representatives from the Sierra Leone government and international donors. The purpose of the conference is to establish a broader base of donor support for Sierra Leone. At the conference, the Government of Sierra Leone will launch a plan for a fair health care financing mechanism which includes the abolition of user fees for women and children.
“Every month we admit several cases of diarrhea, measles, dehydration and sometimes meningitis. But now severe acute malnutrition is becoming the most common problem. We are currently treating 90 patients in a space meant for only 60,” said Jibril, the supervisor explains.
Surgery is just one of the services MSF provides in South Galcayo hospital, where some patients come from as far away as Ethiopia to receive care. The waiting room of the out-patient department, the in-patient department, the ‘out of bounds for men’ wards of the maternity department and the bright, ventilated compound of the tuberculosis centre all have one thing in common – they are all constantly teaming with activity. Every month MSF gives almost 4,000 outpatient consultations, admitting around 120 people for inpatient care and delivering more than 100 babies.
“Throughout our work in Arauca, we have seen people with serious cardiac complications related to Chagas,” explained Oscar Bernal, MSF’s medical coordinator in Colombia. “... That is why we have to start actively diagnosing and treating the disease, so we can detect it early. By doing active screening, we are able to detect the disease before the patient starts showing signs, when the treatment is more likely to be effective.”
Hear how a new proposal for free health care could save lives in Sierra Leone if it is implemented; and from Bangladesh, our operations manager describes how MSF is assisting tens of thousands of Rohingya people struggling to survive; plus, hear this month's MSF Emergency Updates. Find out more...
Brussels – November18, 2009
A daily photo blog focusing on MSF field activities, with emphasis on the particularly creative, arresting and visually engaging images. See more...
