Chagas

Primarily affecting poor people throughout Central and South America, an estimated 14 million people have Chagas disease, and about 15,000 die from it every year.

Madrid, July 9, 2009 — The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) today launched a campaign to raise awareness of the parasitic disease Chagas. MSF is calling on countries where the disease is endemic to stop neglecting the disease by moving beyond prevention activities to increased diagnosis and treatment.

Millions of people are infected with Chagas disease yet they do not know. They can die in silence, without asking for help, without knowing why. It's time to act: diagnose and treat now!

Barcelona/Geneva, New York, May, 19, 2009 – The World Health Organization (WHO) has cut short its annual health ministers meeting because of influenza A (H1N1) preparations and has postponed discussions about Chagas disease. Much needed progress in diagnosing and treating people for this neglected disease must not be further delayed, warned the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) today.

Geneva/New York, February 23, 2009 — MSF and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) called today for more sustainable funding for research and development (R&D) to tackle deadly, yet neglected diseases, such as sleeping sickness, visceral leishmaniasis, and Chagas disease, that affect millions of people around the world.

MSF welcomes recognition by UK drugs company GlaxoSmithKline that patents act as a barrier to research and development and that patent pools offer new ways to stimulate research into neglected diseases. Promises now need to be turned into action.

Rio de Janeiro, April 17, 2008 – Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) welcomes the launch in Brazil of a new drug against P. Falciparum, the most dangerous type of malaria. Developed by DNDi (Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative) in partnership with Farmanguinhos/Fiocruz, ASMQ is the first drug against malaria that combines artesunate (AS) and mefloquine (MQ) in one fixed dose. ASMQ is an important additional tool for better treatment for a disease that continues to kill over one million people each year globally, and kills a child every 30 seconds.

New York, NY, October 31, 2007 - In a study published today in the inaugural issue of PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) medical teams detail a dramatic increase in visceral leishmaniasis, also known as kala azar, in the Bakool region of south-central Somalia. The current conflict in Somalia and the lack of health infrastructure makes it both difficult to address the problem and to assess the true magnitude of the impact of the disease.

With the Nigerian government filing a lawsuit against the U.S. drug company, Pfizer, for clinical trials it conducted during the 1996 meningitis epidemic in Nigeria, Dr. Jean-Hervé Bradol, president of the French section of Médecins Sans Frontières, reviews MSF’s work in Nigeria that year. He emphasizes the need for more clinical research that addresses the lack of treatment options for people in Africa.

In late December 2006, after four years of treating people living with HIV/AIDS in Coatepec, MSF transferred that responsibility to the country's public health agencies. Preparation for the handover had been underway for more than a year. The transfer was implemented gradually, concluding only when the agencies taking responsibility were ready to ensure continuity of care. MSF continues to provide treatment to people living with HIV/AIDS in Puerto Barrios and Guatemala City.

Geneva/Mexico City, November 16, 2004 - The current system for health research and development is failing to bring the benefits of medical progress to the poor, according to the medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) on the opening day of the Ministerial Summit on Health Research, "Bridging the Know-Do Divide to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals," in Mexico City.

On CAFTA and access to medicines

by Patrice Trouiller, Piero Olliaro, Els Torreele, James Orbinski, Richard Laing, and Nathan Ford