Free maternal care has an impressive return on investment

Free maternal healthcare is a relatively cheap measure that has a large impact in saving lives of women and newborns. Press Release - 3 Nov 2015

Haemorrhagic fevers

Crisis update - 2 November 2015

The emergency is not over – the Ebola epidemic in West Africa continues in Guinea where three new cases were recorded last week. Crisis Update - 3 Nov 2015

South Sudan

Searching for malaria care in South Sudan

South Sudan’s Northern Bahr el Ghazal State sits in the remote northwestern corner of the country. It is South Sudan’s poorest state and it has only one full service hospital—a facility in the town of Aweil run by MSF, in conjunction with the Ministry of Health—serving an estimated population of 1.2 million people. Photo Story - 2 Nov 2015

South Sudan

Trapped by violence in Unity state

Spiralling violence in Unity state is having a devastating effect on the civilian population and leading to an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. “The civilian population is being subjected to repeated and targeted violence,” says MSF emergency manager Tara Newell. “MSF has not seen this level of violence and brutality before.” Press Release - 30 Oct 2015

South Africa

South Africa should override patent on key HIV medicine after widespread stock out problem

Stock outs of critical HIV drug LPV/r are causing thousands of South Africans to go without HIV treatment, potentially leading to drug resistance developing or people becoming sick. The stock out is due to pharma company AbbVie - which holds patents on the drug, preventing generics being produced or imported - not providing enough of a supply. The South African government needs to issue a compulsory licence, which allows generic versions to be produced, used or imported in the country, in order to ensure access to lifesaving treatment for people. “People are being turned away from clinics without medicine and are being asked to purchase it on the private market. Many simply cannot afford it and this causes distress,” said Dr. Amir Shroufi, MSF’s Deputy Medical Coordinator in South Africa. “Alarmingly, people without access to treatment over time can become resistant to lopinavir/ritonavir and require more expensive medicines – they also risk falling sick and could even die.” Press Release - 27 Oct 2015

India

At African Union – India meeting, leaders should work together to protect access to affordable medicines

“African leaders really should see this summit as an opportunity to work together with Prime Minister Modi to protect affordable access for people across the developing world”, said Dr Van Cutsem. “They need to remember that millions of people in Africa are alive today because of affordable medicines made in India.” Press Release - 26 Oct 2015

Nigeria

MSF transforms faces and lives of patients suffering from noma

MSF has held its first surgical intervention in Nigeria for people with noma, a disfiguring and often deadly infection which mainly affects young children. In late August, 19 patients at the Noma Children's Hospital in Sokoto, northwestern Nigeria, underwent reconstructive surgery which will improve their health and their chances of re-entering society and living a normal life. Project Update - 22 Oct 2015

Degahbour hospital, Somali region, eEhiopia

Ethiopia

"I don’t want to go without my baby!"

One woman’s bravery secures her a safe birth Voices from the Field - 16 Oct 2015

Chad

Plunging from one nutrition crisis to the next

MSF's medical teams are responding to a nutrition crisis in Bokoro, in the Hadjer-Lamis region of central Chad.“Providing feeding programmes and medical assistance to acutely malnourished children is essential, but it is simply not enough to stop hundreds of thousands of children across Chad repeatedly descending into emergency levels of malnutrition,” says Alberto Jodra, MSF head of mission in Chad. “Far more needs to be done to address malnutrition’s multiple structural causes and to ease the suffering of communities like Bokoro from plunging from one hunger crisis to the next.” Project Update - 16 Oct 2015

Mediterranean migration

Alhassane Zaharia from Benin

Alhassane Zaharia from Benin, on board of Dignity I, talks about his journey to Europe: "This journey is too dangerous. Even now I still don´t have enough courage to look at the sea." Voices from the Field - 15 Oct 2015

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Independent medical humanitarian assistance

We provide medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare. Our teams are made up of tens of thousands of health professionals, logistic and administrative staff - most of them hired locally. Our actions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of independence and impartiality. We are a non-profit, self-governed, member-based organisation.

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