Access to Medicines

MSF welcomes Indian government standing strong against EFTA trade deal’s harmful intellectual property provisions

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Geneva/New Delhi, 15 February 2024 — In a welcome move today, the Indian Commerce Ministry confirmed its rejection of Switzerland’s demand for data exclusivity for medicines in the India-EFTA trade deal, and emphasised the importance of protecting the country’s generic drug production and supply. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Public Eye, and Delhi Network … Read more

Millions of peoples’ access to affordable medicines at risk if India-EFTA trade deal finalised as is

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Text leaked yesterday shows India-EFTA trade deal includes excessive intellectual property provisions that may require India to gut pro-public health national laws. Geneva/New Delhi, 14 February 2024 — Following news that India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – which comprises Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland – are close to finalising a trade deal, … Read more

MSF warns governments are failing to test, treat and prevent TB in children

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Governments must immediately implement the latest WHO guidelines to stop children from dying from this deadly yet curable disease  Geneva, 14 November 2023 – Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF)  welcomed the World Health Organization’s (WHO) ‘Roadmap towards ending TB in children and adolescents’ released today, and urged all countries with high TB burdens to prioritise … Read more

MSF responds to groundbreaking news that Johnson & Johnson will not enforce patents on key TB drug bedaquiline in low- and middle-income countries

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30 September 2023, Geneva Christophe Perrin, TB Advocacy Pharmacist, MSF Access Campaign: “We welcome Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) announcement finally paving the way for unfettered access to affordable generic versions of bedaquiline for all people living with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) who need the drug in low- and middle-income countries. We need all newer TB innovations to be … Read more

Transforming lives in Mozambique: surgical treatment for patients with neglected diseases in Mogovolas district

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Nampula, July 21 , 2023 – Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is collaborating with the District Services of Health, Women and Social Action in Mogovolas and the Provincial Services in Nampula, Mozambique, to deliver surgical treatment for hydrocele, one of the chronic complications of the neglected tropical disease (NTD) lymphatic filariasis (commonly known as … Read more

Gavi must do more as WHO/UNICEF estimates show slow childhood vaccination recovery

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Gavi should waive co-financing requirements for countries with fragile health systems or in humanitarian crises. Geneva, 18 July, 2023 — Today, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) again called on Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance to broaden “catch-up” vaccine coverage for unprotected children by temporarily waiving co-financing requirements for all countries and areas with fragile health … Read more

MSF calls again on J&J to withdraw or abandon extended patents on lifesaving TB drug as main patent expires in India today, opening door to more affordable generics

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MSF calls again on J&J to withdraw or abandon extended patents on lifesaving TB drug as main patent expires in India today, opening door to more affordable generics. Recent deal offering controlled generics access in limited countries does not go far enough.   Delhi/Cape Town/Geneva, 18 July, 2023 – As Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) 20-year … Read more

Shortening distances: providing healthcare to indigenous communities in Venezuela’s Delta Amacuro state

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Rivers serve as roads and tropical rainforest stretches to the horizon in Delta Amacuro state, a vast area bordering the Atlantic Ocean in northeastern Venezuela. Largely inaccessible, this region is home to a large number of Indigenous communities who face significant challenges accessing healthcare.  Many indigenous communities live scattered along the banks of the Orinoco … Read more

TB medicine deal offers short-term solution, but J&J needs to do more for all affected countries

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Christophe Perrin, TB advocacy pharmacist, MSF Access Campaign  “Today’s announcement by the Stop TB Partnership/Global Drug Facility about a deal with pharmaceutical corporation Johnson & Johnson (J&J), for access to affordable generic versions of the lifesaving tuberculosis (TB) drug bedaquiline, offers a short-term solution for low- and middle-income countries — but the deal remains just a … Read more

MSF calls on Gavi to step up efforts to improve vaccine access for children up to at least five years old

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Geneva, 12 June 2023 – Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) today again urged Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to urgently prioritise reaching ‘zero-dose’* and under-immunised children up to age five, by removing barriers to broadening vaccine coverage for unprotected children, including by waiving co-financing requirements for countries and areas with fragile health systems, and those … Read more