Access to healthcare

Medical Chronicle: Dwindling Foreign Funding Opening up New Opportunities for Healthcare in Africa

01 April 2012

MSF, Dr Unni Karunakara, Healthcare summit, donor funding, HIV, TB, Malaria

Dr Unni Karunakara examining a child at an IDP camp in downtown Mogadishu. Photo: MSF

The huge impact of the global financial crisis on the availability of international aid and donor funding is forcing African governments and private providers to come up with innovative, collaborative and sustainable solutions to ensure that the impressive gains in healthcare over the past decade are not jeopardised. How this can be achieved in the context of the continent's huge disease burden and lack of resources was the main focus of the recent Healthcare in Africa summit hosted by The Economist in Cape Town... Dr Unni Karunakara, international president of Medicines Sans Frontieres (MSF), said the organisation was already seeing the on-the-ground effect of the funding crisis on HIV, TB and malaria programmes. "Donor...

Big Media SA: South African triage system to go global

02 February 2012

Dr Mohammed Dalwai successfully implemented the SATS while working in an MSF hospital in Pakistan.

Doctors Without Borders will be the first global medical humanitarian organisation to adopt South Africa's Triage Score (SATS) emergency response system in several countries where their teams provide emergency medical care. "It is something South Africa can be proud of. Taking the system and implementing it across the world is a major accolade for the country," says South African MSF emergency doctor Mohammed Dalwai.... "A triage system had never before been used in the Pakistani hospital and the response to its introduction was overwhelming. It shows that SATS can be successfully implemented in other countries," says Dalwai. Read full article.

Milady's Inspirations Magazine: A Doctor Without a Border - interview with Dr Santhuri Pillay

01 November 2011

In rural Sierra Leone, a three-year-old girl is happily playing with her siblings, bringing a smile to South African doctor Santhuri Pillay when she thinks of her time working with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders Read Santhuri's story below.

IRIN: SOUTH AFRICA - Migrants’ health care hit by deportations

20 December 2011

migrants, mobile populations, health passport, zimbabwe, south africa

Undocumented migrants about to be transported to the border for deportation. Anthony Kaminju/IRIN

While most nations are dependent to some extent on the world’s 214 million migrants for skills and labour, few ensure these migrants have access to their health systems, something that could have dire public health consequences, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM)... Meanwhile, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and several other organizations have raised concerns about the poor access to medical services for migrants detained in the border town of Musina.... We’ve come across [HIV-positive] patients who were arrested and detained there without their ARVs," said Christine Mwongera, MSF's project coordinator in Musina. "We also found TB cases that hadn’t been...

Haiti: “When cholera hits, it's life or death”

18 October 2011

Patients affected by cholera are receiving a treatment in one of the MSF Cholera Treatment Center located in the capital city, Port-au-Prince.

Moïse is thirty-three years old. He arrived a few hours ago, in a serious condition, at the cholera treatment centre in Thomassique, a small town in the Centre department in Haiti. Immediately rehydrated by drip and orally, his condition has rapidly improved;without setbacks he should recover in three days. MSF began supporting the treatment centre five weeks ago, when a new major outbreak of cholera was affecting the area and the existing centre was completely overwhelmed by the influx of patients. Without supervision or qualified staff present at the centre, patients were unable to get adequate treatment. To improve the situation an MSF team set up appropriate care of patients, hired and trained local medical staff responsible for...

YEMEN: MSF suspends medical activities in Saada governorate

29 September 2011

MSF halts work in Al Talh and Razeh hospitals, after local authorities set new conditions for humanitarian activities in the region Sana’a / Paris– International medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced today that its emergency activities in Saada governorate were suspended on 26 September. On 15 September, the Executive Council in charge of humanitarian affairs in Saada announced new conditions under which all humanitarian and non-governmental organisations have to work in this region. These new conditions include an end to all independent assessments of medical needs within the governorate, a ban on international staff supervising...

SWAZILAND: A new ward to treat patients with drug resistant tuberculosis

30 September 2011

Swazilnad: MSF builds a TB ward

Mbabane - Last week, the first patients infected with drug resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) were admitted in a new wing at Nhlangano Health Centre, in the Shiselweni region (southern Swaziland). The facility was constructed by MSF through private donations. The Ministry of Health and MSF teams will be jointly running this new facility. Watch this video: TB Ward in Swaziland The new DR-TB wing can attend to a maximum of 30 patients. International standards for infection control were integrated with the use of natural ventilation. The ward also includes a laboratory with state-of-the-art technology. Amongst the features MSF is proud to introduce the molecular analyser, which detects...

Aljazeera: Foreign migrants at risk in Libya

29 August 2011

800-1000 migrants and refugees are living amongst boats on an abandoned military base on the outskirts of Tripoli, where they have sought refuge in fear of harassment and violence. Many have been there for the duration of the conflict, been robbed of all identity papers, money and live in constant fear, without access to healthcare or security. MSF has provided medical consultations and assistance to the community, and are calling for their protection. © Ron Haviv/VII

In Tripoli, many foreign workers say thay are being assaulted and illegally detained. Some are accused of being Muammar Gaddafi supporters and mercenaries. Others live in makeshift camps, hiding from men with weapons, without knowing whether their attackers are Gaddafi's loyalists or rebel fighters. Al Jazeera's James Bays has this exclusive report, including an interview with MSF South Africa's Jonathan Whittall, Head of Mission for the Tripoli activities. Watch report here.

Pakistan: MSF responds to increasing number of patients with acute watery diarrhoea in KPK and FATA

08 September 2011

With the monsoon season in full swing, the independent medical humanitarian association Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has been receiving an increasing number of patients with acute watery diarrhoea in different areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (KPK) as well as in Kurram Agencyin the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) since July. MSF is reinforcing its teams to respond to the increasing medical needs. Starting in July, MSF has opened temporary diarrhoea treatment centres in existing hospitals in Mingora in Swat district, in Timergara in Lower Dir district and in Hangu in KPK, as well as in Sadda in Kurram. MSF is also providing treatment to patients suffering from acute watery...

A reality check on Somalia

05 September 2011

By Dr Unni Karunakara, International President, Medecins Sans Frontieres Dr Unni Karunakara, International President, MSF The current emergency unfolding in and around Somalia is being portrayed by many aid organisations and the media in one-dimensional terms, such as “famine in the Horn of Africa” or “worst drought in 60 years”. But only blaming natural causes ignores the complex geopolitical realities exacerbating the situation and suggests that the solution lies in merely finding funds and shipping enough food to the Horn of Africa. Unfortunately, glossing over the man-made causes of hunger and starvation in the region and the difficulties in addressing them will not help...

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