MSF medic Dr Josine Blanksma treated hundreds of patients for malaria. This is her testimony. Voices from the Field - 25 Apr 2014

Malaria

Another weapon in the fight against malaria

Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) in Niger Project Update - 25 Apr 2014

Seasonal malaria chemoprevention in Niger

Gallery: Revolutionary protection against childhood malaria in Niger Photo Story - 25 Apr 2014

Malaria

Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention - “It’s not a miracle cure, but it is an effective preventative strategy”

Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention - “It’s not a miracle cure, but it is an effective preventative strategy” Project Update - 25 Apr 2014

South Africa

"This disease is for heroes. If you can fight this, you can stand anything in this world"

The story of Siyabulela Qwaka, the latest patient cured of drug resistant TB in MSF’s project in Khayelitsha, South Africa Voices from the Field - 24 Apr 2014

Disease prevention

Taking the fridge out of the equation

Storing, transporting and administering vaccines in conditions where MSF works are some of the biggest logistical challenges. Project Update - 23 Apr 2014

Sudanese refugees began streaming across the border into South Sudan in June 2011 when conflict erupted between the Khartoum government and the rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) in Sudan’s South Kordofan State. At the height of the crisis in Yida camp last summer, high mortality rates were reported among young children admitted to MSF’s hospital with respiratory tract infections, such as pneumonia, one of the leading causes of death. MSF determined that vaccinating with the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) could result in a substantial mortality reduction in Yida. MSF has been working since September 2012 to procure PCV but faced significant delays due to lengthy negotiations and international legal procurement constraints. MSF was eventually able to obtain the vaccine from GSK at a reduced price, but delays have now pushed the planned vaccination into the logistically challenging rainy season.

The objective is to immunize approximately 5,000 children under the age of 2 against several pathogens, including haemophilus influenza type B and pneumococcus. This is the first time that PCV is being used in South Sudan and one of the first vaccines to be implemented in compliance with the new WHO emergency vaccination recommendations.

Access to medicines

Heat-stable vaccines urgently needed to reach the one in five children missed by immunisation worldwide

MSF study shows a tetanus vaccine remains effective for up to a month when used outside a cold chain. Press Release - 22 Apr 2014

Kawargosk camp.
Kurdistan/Iraq - MSF is running a primary health centre in Kawargosk camp hosting Syrian refugees and mobile clinics in another refugees camp in Erbil area.
*** Local Caption *** With the insecurity and the violence affecting the entire population in Syria, many Syrians have chosen to flee to Iraq. The internal Iraqi political dynamics have created the space for the Kurdish Region Government (KRG) to host the Kurdish population fleeing Syria. In Erbil governorate (Kurdish region of Iraq), MSF is running a primary health centre in Kawargosk refugees camp and mobile clinics in another other camp.

Natural hazards

Optimal Evidence in Difficult Settings: Improving Health Interventions and Decision Making in Disasters

As for any type of health care, decisions about interventions in the context of natural disasters, conflict, and other major healthcare emergencies must be guided by the best possible evidence. Journal article - 22 Apr 2014

Medical Director of the Colony 3, Dr. Nikolai Gopilo, walking to one of the compounds where prisoners with drug-resistant TB are held. Colony 3 looks like a small village where inmates are allowed to walk freely inside the compound without constrains from the administration. Territory is secured by double fences, armed guard towers, armed guard patrols, and a "pass-system" of entry. Medical and non medical staff work in close proximity with the detainees.

The internal hierarchy of the prisoners, which was inherited from the Soviet regime and exists today in all the republics of the former USSR, is a kind of "caste" system that is defined by a rigid unwritten code, functioning quite independently of the penitentiary administration. The authorities know that the castes exist and are aware of their rules and realities.

Social violence and exclusion

Humanitarian work in prisons: the experience of Médecins Sans Frontières

Humanitarian work in prisons: the experience of Médecins Sans Frontières Journal article - 22 Apr 2014

Guinea

MSF continues Ebola response

MSF continues Ebola response in Guinea and Liberia Project Update - 22 Apr 2014

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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"My heart leaps for joy": the ups and downs of treating malaria in DRC