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El Fasher: 2 weeks since the beginning of the clashes
Conflict in Sudan

Six months of war and neglect in Sudan is a “catastrophic failure of humanity”

Six months into the conflict in Sudan, MSF calls for immediate increase in humanitarian efforts, the safeguarding of medical staff, humanitarian workers and civilians, the removal of administrative blockages on medical and humanitarian staff and supplies, and for people to be allowed unhindered access to humanitarian aid. Press Release - 12 Oct 2023
 
MSF staff prepare a medical supplies donation for the ministry of health in Gaza after Israeli strikes on October 8, 2023
Palestine

MSF performs surgeries, donates supplies in Gaza amid overcrowded facilities

As we continue to perform surgeries and donates supplies in Gaza amid overcrowded facilities, we call on all parties to respect the sanctity of medical facilities, vehicles and personnel.

Press Release - 8 Oct 2023
 
Returnees from Sudan gather to fetch water from a supply point in Renk transit centre, Upper Nile state.
South Sudan

Aid woefully inadequate for returnees stuck in deplorable conditions in Renk

Nearly 300,000 South Sudanese fleeing the conflict in Sudan have returned to their homeland and are now stuck in deplorable conditions, at risk of measles, malaria and malnutrition. Press Release - 3 Oct 2023
 
Am Timan, Chad 2015
Close up Logo, Stethoscope
Armenia

Nagorno Karabakh: MSF prepares to respond to people fleeing to Armenia

In the wake of violence erupting in Nagorno-Karabakh, a self autonomous region in Azerbaijan, thousands of people have fled to Armenia, where MSF teams are preparing to respond to their needs. Press Release - 27 Sep 2023
 
Vaishnavi, a 7-year-old DRTB (Drug Resistant​ Tuberculosis) patient interacts with Prachi, an MSF nurse as her mother Vishaka holds her.​

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TACTiC – Test, Avoid, Cure Tuberculosis in Children

Commitments made in today's UN TB Declaration to scale up TB testing and treatment, and improve TB care for children, require immediate, concrete action

MSF welcomes the second-ever UN Political Declaration on tuberculosis in which world leaders committed to ramp up TB testing, treatment and prevention, and to close the deadly gaps in all these areas for adults and children. msfaccess.org - 22 Sep 2023
 
Diphtheria, Kano project
Nigeria

Urgent response needed to curb Nigeria’s worsening diphtheria outbreak

As a diphtheria outbreak surges through Nigeria and neighbouring countries, an urgent increase in access to medicines and vaccination is vital to avoid further deaths. Press Release - 19 Sep 2023
 
The MSF flag flutters in the wind at MSF’s clinic in Al-Tanideba camp for Tigray refugees, in Eastern Sudan.
Conflict in Sudan

Forty-nine people killed in Khartoum’s deadliest weekend since conflict began

Our teams treated over 100 people wounded in two separate locations of Khartoum, Sudan, following deadly attacks where at least 49 people were killed. Press Release - 12 Sep 2023
 
Anam (name changed), a 17-year-old DRTB (Drug Resistant Tuberculosis) patient, shows her intravenous access port through which she receives her TB medication.

Anam (name changed on request), a bright 17-year-old, excels not only at English and Science in school but is an equally good Mehndi/henna artist. She tells us happily that she has completed a professional Mehndi course and learnt needlework. She aspires to become a fashion designer. 
She scrolls through her phone gallery, bringing up photos of the bridal henna designs that she has created. As her hand moves over the screen, there is a contrast between those delicate designs and the pattern on her own hand from the PICC Line (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter).
Anam was first diagnosed with pulmonary TB at the age of nine. Before her diagnosis, she frequently had a cough and a fever. When her mother initially took her to a doctor, she was suspected of having double typhoid. 
Being diagnosed with TB at such a young age came as a blow to Anam’s family, who had no history of the disease.  Her mother later got to know that Anam studied with around eight to ten TB positive patients in school. The stigma around the disease is so strong that other children or their families never informed the school authorities. The parents feared that their children would be expelled, bullied, harassed or discriminated against. Anam’s mother decided that it was important to break this lethal chain. She informed the Principal and did not send Anam to school for the next five months. 
For 14 months, Anam received treatment at a private hospital with support from her immediate family and friends. However, the treatment did not work and her symptoms such as weight loss and vomiting worsened. The treatment at the private hospital cost her family around Rs 5,500 monthly (Rs 2,500 for medicines and Rs 3,000 for tests). In February 2021 she was finally diagnosed with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) at a government DR-TB centre.  She was put on a DR-TB regimen, however subsequent investigations revealed additional resistance to other drugs as well. She suffered from cough, fever and weight loss. Since her condition was not improving with the treatment received so far, she ultimately came to MSF.  
At the MSF Clinic, Anam was put on a regimen of the oral drugs bedaquiline, delamanid, linezolid and amoxicillin, and an intravenous treatment with the injection imipenem. This regimen was built for her based on her resistance to certain drugs and she has been taking it for the last one and a half years.  
Anam’s mother says, “We have been through a very rough patch, but we found help every step of the way. The psychosocial support in terms of counselling, and the medical support that we received at the MSF clinic reduced our financial and medical treatment worries.”
Despite constant encouragement and support, every day Anam is also witness to another TB story unfolding outside her bedroom window. The impact of stigma and lack of awareness about TB is having serious consequences for a girl not much older than Anam in the neighbouring house. Anam recalls distraught conversations with her ‘window friend’: how she has been locked inside her room because of the disease; how her parents have abandoned her; and the irregularity of her meals. Anam’s mother says that their neighbours don’t allow other community members to help them. Bereft of medical and psychosocial support, her ‘window friend’ developed suicidal tendencies that resulted in one failed attempt to jump off the roof.  
Anam realises that her friend’s parents may have prevented the suicide attempt, yet they contributed nothing to alleviating the everyday suffering. No proper treatment is sought, she says. Anam’s mother tried to counsel the girl’s parents but they are reluctant to listen to anyone.
The story of Anam and her ‘window friend’ highlights the importance of medical treatment and psychosocial support in TB treatment, and the importance of raising awareness around the disease and fighting stigma.  And for Anam, even a small dream like hanging out with friends on a vacation post-recovery, keeps her going.
Tuberculosis

Johnson & Johnson and Cepheid must pledge access to lifesaving TB medicines and tests

Ahead of the global tuberculosis High-Level Meeting at the United Nations, Johnson & Johnson and Cepheid must pledge access to lifesaving TB medicines and tests for everyone in need. Press Release - 12 Sep 2023
 
On the afternoon of 6 September 2023, a missile hit a marketplace in Kostiantynivka, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. 

The attacked resulted in the death of at least 17 people, including a child, and left more than 30 injured.
War in Ukraine

Over 30 people hospitalised after deadly attack on marketplace in Kostiantynivka

Our teams have been providing lifesaving care to people injured in a deadly attack on a market place in Kostiantynivka, Ukraine, where 17 people have reportedly been killed. Press Release - 8 Sep 2023
 
Commune of Ranobe, Amboasary District.

People in the south-east of Madagascar are facing the most acute nutritional and food crisis the region has seen in recent years. MSF began setting up mobile clinics in Amboasary district in late March to screen and treat acute malnutrition in remote villages like those of Ranobe commune, providing ready-to-use therapeutic food and medical care.
Central African Republic

Attacks against staff and patients in Batangafo threaten continuation of healthcare

MSF calls on all armed groups to respect and protect humanitarian workers, patients and their caretakers, after spate of violent attacks in Batangafo. Press Release - 1 Sep 2023
Four mothers posing in a corridor of the Hospital in Bili. All four of them are staying in the hospital with their child, that's suffering from a severe case of malaria. Since the beginning of the project in 2016, the pediatric ward already treated more than 4.000 cases of complicated/severe form of malaria.
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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