19 Dec 2011

MSF affiliated organisations

Tags: Info

 

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) aims to bring the best medical care possible to some of the most disadvantaged people. But this is hindered by the high cost of medicines currently available, and the absence of appropriate diagnostic tools and treatments for many of the diseases that affect patients where we work.

In 1999, MSF set up the Access Campaign (Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines), aiming to improve access to existing medicines, diagnostics and vaccines by bringing prices down, and to stimulate research into the development of better treatments that are appropriate for our patients.

The Access Campaign pushes for continued advances in medical practice and supports efforts in reshaping how medical research and development are funded. The aim is to stimulate medical innovation, so that doctors in MSF’s programmes and beyond are equipped to give their patients the care they need.

To learn more about the Access Campaign, visit http://www.msfaccess.org.

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Created in 1987 by MSF, Epicentre is a non-profit organisation specialising in public health and epidemiology. Epicentre conducts operational research in developing countries, often where MSF runs programmes, and provides training for MSF staff.

Epicentre's team of more than 160 people work from the headquarters in Paris, at  offices in Geneva, Brussels, Barcelona, New York, Nairobi, and at research centres in Niger and Uganda.

Epidemiologists from Epicentre give guest lectures and organise training modules in the field of applied epidemiology as part of university or diploma courses. Epicentre has also developed expertise in the development and field installation of software applications for the management of health information.

In 1996, Epicentre became a World Health Organization collaborating centre for research in epidemiology and response to emerging diseases.

To learn more, please visit http://www.epicentre.msf.org

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The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) is an independent, not-for-profit product development partnership working to research and develop new and improved treatments for neglected diseases such as kala azar (visceral leishmaniasis), sleeping sickness (human African trypanosomiasis), Chagas disease and malaria. DNDi recently expanded its portfolio to include paediatric HIV and specific helminth-related infections.

The initiative was founded in 2003 by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation/Farmanguinhos from Brazil, the Indian Council for Medical Research, the Kenya Medical Research Institute, the Ministry of Health of Malaysia and the Pasteur Institute, France, and MSF.  The World Health Organization’s Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases is a permanent observer.

To learn more, please visit http://www.dndi.org