World Refugee Day 2022

The American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (ASTMH) Annual Meeting is an international forum for the exchange of scientific and clinical advances in tropical medicine, hygiene and global health. The scientific content this year is 53% microbe focused, 15% clinically focused, 13% vector focused, 13% globally focused, and 6% intervention focused.

MSF and Epicentre are presenting on access and other challenges for children with visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis, hurdles in malaria diagnostic testing, and ensuring equitable access to healthcare in conversations about financial sustainability.

This collection features research authored by the presenters and other topics highlighted at ASTMH.

Unsafe abortion is a major cause of maternal death, and the only one that is completely preventable. Yet over 30 million unsafe abortions occur each year, leading to at least 29,000 deaths and millions of serious complications—nearly all in low- and middle-income countries. MSF teams see these tragic consequences first-hand, treating thousands of patients every year with severe, potentially life-threatening effects from unsafe abortion.

To mark International Safe Abortion Awareness Day (28 September 2024), this Collection presents highlights of MSF’s work on safe abortion care (SAC) as a way to reduce maternal death and injury. By re-assessing and reshaping how our projects deliver SAC in fragile and conflict-affected settings, we have been able to significantly expand services in those contexts and across MSF projects globally. In parallel, we also conducted in-depth studies of abortion complications and their contributing factors in fragile settings, where a dearth of evidence limits understanding of women's needs in accessing comprehensive care. These findings are helping to identify gaps in service delivery and inform operational decision-making.