My big public health hero (who is a hero to many) Dr Bill Foege once said that, “Civilization is organized kindness,” and my three days in Copenhagen made me feel that the Danish have mastered this principle as a fine science and art. When you arrive in Copenhagen, it is hard for a visitor to […]
Category: Global health
Christmas Appeal 2014: A silent hunger
I have been in Pakistan for six months, two thirds of the way through my nine month mission. Before working in Pakistan, I had spent some time working in the north of Australia with the Aboriginal community. In the Northern Territory of Australia, there is a big issue with malnutrition in the Aboriginal population, especially in […]
Christmas Appeal 2014: Gibson Chijaka—I cannot hold back my joy
My name is Gibson Chijaka, and for the last two years I have endured dozens of nauseating tablets every day. Today, I am so happy and cannot hold back my joy; I am cured of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Me with my grandmother, Margaret Kadzere, October 2014. © Stambuli Kim/MSF […]
Barbara Bokhour: Patient centered care in an epidemic—why it matters
As the Ebola outbreak in west Africa continues, finding ways to control the epidemic is paramount. In some of the hard hit African countries, we have seen the reluctance of patients to disclose that they are ill and to access healthcare services, citing a fear of the health workers and believing that they will die if they […]
Christmas Appeal 2014: An intensive care unit in a conflict zone
Two people with gunshot wounds are brought to the MSF hospital in Leer. They were at a celebration the previous evening when someone entered and started shooting. Five people were seriously injured. Two of them managed to reach our hospital, but the other three died on the way. […]
Helen Zorbas: 2014 World Cancer Congress
Last week in Melbourne, I had the privilege of joining influential leaders from the international cancer community as over 2800 delegates from 112 different countries came together for the World Cancer Congress, held for the first time in Australia. The congress highlighted the substantial impact cancer has on nations across the world, and confirmed Australia’s position […]
Thomas Nierle and Bruno Jochum: MSF should not replace governmental responsibilities on Ebola
MEP Charles Goerens, rapporteur on Ebola to the European Parliament’s Committee on Development, recently declared in a European Council meeting that this epidemic is “the first major international crisis in which the lead should be given to an NGO [non-governmental organisation]—in this case, Médecins Sans Frontières.” Given that we have repeatedly called for greater leadership […]
Christmas Appeal 2014: Benjamin Black on Ebola through his eyes
When I begin each day I feel like I know what to expect. I have been in and out of west Africa since June, and watched this sad story developing both as a direct witness on the inside, and as an observer from afar when back home. In the Ebola treatment centre where I work, […]
Kate Iorpenda: Adolescents are slipping through the cracks in HIV services
This year there has been considerable attention on adolescents and HIV, not least because of the World Health Organization’s “Health for the world’s adolescents” report, which highlighted how HIV is claiming the lives of so many young people globally. This is particularly true in Africa, where AIDS related illnesses are the biggest killer of adolescents. […]
Lawrence Haddad: Do we really need a nutrition data revolution?
The just released Global Nutrition Report makes the case for a “nutrition data revolution.” Data collection, storage, and analysis costs money—so why do we need to invest in it? Consider a few facts from the report: 1. Forty nine per cent of 193 countries lack the data to be able to track if they are […]