© Médecins Sans Frontières
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© Médecins Sans Frontières
v2.1.3998.produseast1
Viral hepatitis is a significant cause of disease and death globally. Yet powerful new medical tools to combat hepatitis C and E still reach only a tiny fraction of people who desperately need them, especially in low-resource and emergency settings.
To mark World Hepatitis Day (July 28th) we highlight recent MSF research on making these breakthrough products more widely accessible and simpler to use.
For hepatitis C, where groundbreaking antiviral drugs can cure nearly all patients, MSF is developing comprehensive, community-based models of care that offer rapid screening, diagnosis, and treatment under one roof. In some settings programs focus on the specific needs of highly vulnerable populations, such as people living in remote areas, forcibly displaced refugees, or those co-infected with HIV or TB or who inject drugs.
Turning to prevention, MSF is exploring ways to use the Hepatitis E vaccine more effectively in areas where poor sanitation and water quality regularly lead to outbreaks. Studies in a South Sudanese camp for internally displaced people are strengthening evidence for the vaccine’s feasibility, efficacy, safety and community acceptance, especially for pregnant women and their fetuses. Another report analyzes strategies for overcoming barriers to widespread vaccine adoption.
On 16 May people from within and outside MSF gathered in London, joined by online participants from over 100 countries, for this annual ‘conference without borders’ showcasing medical research from fragile and conflict affected settings.
All too often the populations MSF works with are excluded from the benefits of research. Yet they are the ones that often need these benefits most. So speakers considered how MSF’s research has impacted the way our projects deliver care, how knowledge gaps can be pivotal to political gatekeeping and to triggering appropriate humanitarian responses, and how identifying best practices and funding innovation are key to improving our capacity to act.
Talks focused on infectious diseases, outbreaks, vaccination, and assessing mortality in crisis settings.
Antimicrobial resistance is a growing public health crisis, especially in countries with fragile health systems, population displacement or ongoing conflict. In 2019 antibiotic-resistant bacteria directly caused an estimated 1.27 million deaths, a toll that will continue to increase if no effective action is taken.
To mark World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2023 on 18-24 November, we present a cross-section of MSF’s response to resistant bacterial infections. (See also the collection on drug-resistant tuberculosis.) Our approach combines three pillars: infection prevention and control, microbiology and surveillance, and rational use of antibiotics via antibiotic stewardship. Several studies characterize patterns and prevalence of antibiotic resistance among MSF patients, from civilians wounded in Middle East conflicts to hospitalized neonates in Central African Republic and Haiti. New technologies developed by MSF and partners are expanding local capacity for rapid, accurate laboratory diagnosis of infections, so that clinicians can prescribe the right antibiotic for each patient. Other work assesses the practices and challenges related to optimizing rational antibiotic use within health facilities and communities.