MSF resumes activities in response to India’s COVID-19 second wave

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is restarting emergency response amid a surging second wave of COVID-19 in Mumbai in Maharashtra. The city is very densely populated and the poor and dilapidated hygiene conditions are a triple trigger for the virus to breed, infect and spread rapidly. Daily new infections across the country have reached … Read more

Brazil: Failed COVID-19 response drives Brazil to humanitarian catastrophe

More than 12 months into Brazil’s COVID-19 emergency, there is still no effective, centralised and coordinated public health response to the outbreak. The lack of political will to adequately respond to the pandemic is killing Brazilians in their thousands. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is urgently calling on Brazilian authorities to acknowledge the severity of the crisis and to … Read more

Central African Republic: Healing the visible and invisible wounds of sexual violence

Sexual violence has become a public health issue in the Central African Republic (CAR) over the past decade, with women and minors being the most affected groups. In a country marked by years of civil war and facing a long-term crisis, assaults are perpetrated not just by members of armed groups; often the assault is … Read more

Ethiopia: Asylum seekers trapped in appalling conditions in Gambella region

Thousands of asylum seekers from South Sudan have been stuck for months in appalling conditions in a reception centre in Gambella region, western Ethiopia. People are without meaningful access to essential services, especially food. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is worried that conditions will deteriorate even further in the upcoming rainy season. Nyaluak Tang*, her husband and … Read more

Democratic Republic of Congo: Measles is spreading and killing again in what seems to be a never-ending fight

Measles is once again on the rise in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The recent upsurge in cases – more than 13,000 since January 1st – is a major source of concern for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Between 2018 and 2020, the worst measles epidemic ever recorded in DRC tore through the country. In … Read more

Yemen: COVID-19 support desperately needed as second wave overwhelms the country

ADEN – Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is seeing a dramatic influx of critically ill COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalisation in Aden, Yemen and many other parts of the country. “We are urging all medical humanitarian organisations already present in Yemen to rapidly scale up their COVID-19 emergency response,” says Raphael Veicht, Head of Mission of MSF in Yemen. “International … Read more

Tuberculosis: Sustainable solutions for children and adolescents at risk of drug-resistant TB

They walked in single file through the narrow alleyways, winding away from their tin shack in Cape Town towards the health centre. Keitu – just 11 years old – carried her baby brother on her back since their mother was too frail and could barely manage on her own. Keitu kept a close eye on … Read more

Palestine: Vaccines urgently needed as Palestine struggles under surge of COVID-19

Since February, another heavy wave of COVID-19 has swept through the West Bank, Palestine. Over 20,000 patients are currently being treated for the new coronavirus, adding further pressure to an already fragile healthcare system, and leaving medical staff struggling to provide adequate care. Both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authorities must immediately significantly increase efforts to slow the … Read more

Tuberculosis: Trial of multidrug-resistant TB treatment ends enrolment early after independent board indicates new regimen is superior

LONDON – A trial aiming to find a better treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has stopped enrolling patients early after its independent data safety and monitoring board indicated that the regimen being studied is superior to current care, and more patient data was extremely unlikely to change the trial’s outcome. TB-PRACTECAL, a phase II/III clinical … Read more

Bangladesh: A fire broke out in Cox’s Bazar Refugee Camp

Large fire broke out in camps in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh on 23rd March where around 900,000 refugees are currently living. According to UN estimates, around 15 people lost their lives during the massive blaze, 560 people were injured and up to 10,000 families (more than 45,000 people) have been displaced, but the final numbers are still unclear. MSF’s Balukhali clinic … Read more