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Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) remains an especially deadly form of the ancient scourge of TB, while current treatments are long, toxic, and ineffective for half of all patients. Aiming to change this unacceptable status quo, in the mid-2010’s MSF and partners launched three clinical trials to test novel regimens containing the first new TB drugs in decades. On 22 December 2022 the New England Journal of Medicine published findings from TB-PRACTECAL, a three-country randomized controlled trial, showing that a shorter regimen is safer and cured 89% of DR-TB patients, compared with 52% on the standard of care. These findings have already been incorporated into the World Health Organization’s new TB treatment guidelines. A separate study shows that the new regimen is also more cost-effective. Alongside these results the content collection linked below highlights other aspects of the trial, from community engagement strategies that helped shape TB-PRACTECAL to setbacks arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. It also examines urgent challenges in scaling up access to these life-saving drugs, including affordability and patent barriers.

As the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic grips the world, one of its most devastating indirect effects is the disruption to medical services for preventing and treating other life-threatening diseases—especially in countries with already-fragile health systems. For MSF and other global health actors this means not only responding to Covid-19 directly but also assessing its impact on other essential care and then adapting programs so they can keep serving patients despite the enormous obstacles. In this Collection you will find a selection of published articles and conference content from this year’s MSF Scientific Days 2021 conference content, encompassing a range of approaches, settings and medical challenges—from malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS prevention and care to digital health promotion and sexual and reproductive health.