Name : Designation : Kala azar or black fever (visceral leishmaniasis) is a tropical, parasitic disease caused by the bite of the sandfly. It is almost always fatal if left untreated. Below is the firsthand account of a doctor who is part of the kala azar ward run by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières … Read more
Hajipur (Bihar), March 15, 2014: On the third annual Kala Azar Day, international medical humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has emphasised on the need for scaling up awareness about kala azar (Leishmaniasis), its diagnosis and treatment in Bihar for the poorest, most vulnerable communities who make up the majority of people … Read more
Name : Designation : “I have endured the injections, the pills and the side effects, but how do I prepare my teenage daughter of what may lie ahead for her?” asks T Muan, who has completed 18 months of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) treatment. He was first diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1986 after complaining of fever. … Read more
Darbhanga (Bihar), March 1, 2014 -The State Health Society, Bihar,today inaugurated a Malnutrition Intensive Care Unit (MICU) for treating the most complicated cases of severe acute malnutrition in children at the Darbhanga Medical College Hospital (DMCH) in Bihar. The MICU will be operated jointly by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the Ministry of Health … Read more
Name : Designation : As a logistician with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) for seven years now, Amul Rathi has been making sure that its programmes are equipped well to run smoothly. He’s worked in tribal areas of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, in Iraq and most recently in Tajikistan, Central Asia. He shares … Read more
Name : Designation : Angeleena Esther works as a medical doctor in the Manipur programme of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). She talks about one of her patients whose desire to live inspired her, and shares her experience of providing healthcare to people living with HIV and tuberculosis (TB). © Avantika Shrivastava/MSF The first … Read more
Name : Frank Aalderinks Designation : In the MSF Mother and Child Health Centre in Bijapur town of Chhattisgarh, MSF doctors give medical check-up to the baby who was born pre-maturely. Copyright: P.K.Lee Lalita shares her room in the Mother and Child Health Centre (MCHC) in Bijapur, Chhattisgarh, with two other mothers who have … Read more
“In India, over half a million people living with HIV are on treatment but the best tool to monitor their treatment – the viral load test – is not easily accessible and available. Access to viral load testing is strictly rationed and is only available if the SACEP (State AIDS Clinical Expert Panel) committee – … Read more
On November 22, 2013, the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) recommended granting a conditional marketing authorisation for delamanid, only the second new TB drug to be developed in 50 years. It is hoped that the new drug, marketed by the Japanese company Otsuka, will be pivotal in improving … Read more
‘Patent opposition’ seeks to ensure production of affordable generics November 22, 2013, New Delhi/New York: DoctorsWithout Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) supports the ‘patent opposition’ just filed at India’s Patent Office by the Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge (I-MAK), which aims to prevent US pharmaceutical company Gilead/Pharmasset from gaining a patent in India on sofosbuvir, … Read more