A couple of sample dilemmas faced recently in the clinical programmes of the medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). “This HIV positive woman in her first trimester of pregnancy is currently on an efavirenz-based regimen, what should we do?” “The patient I just saw in clinic has HIV infection and is hepatitis C antibody […]
Tag: MSF
Sarah Venis: Going digital – join in the online Médecins Sans Frontières scientific day
Why does a medical humanitarian organisation like Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hold a yearly scientific conference? The common image of MSF has more in common with Angelina Jolie’s film efforts than with the well trodden academic routines of powerpoint presentations and poster galleries. Although venues and audiovisual technology have changed since the conference was first […]
Grania Brigden: Time to make TB the enemy that can’t hide
As the Kony 2012 campaign continues to sear the image of Joseph Kony—head of the Ugandan guerilla group, the Lord’s Resistance Army— into the world’s consciousness, it’s worth remembering that there is another, more deadly killer at loose on the African continent. This killer is tuberculosis. The two have much in common. They have no […]
Greg Elder: Hippocrates: a casualty of the war in Syria
A doctor’s protest Principles Four months ago en route to work I read an article about how the blood transfusion services in Syria had been taken over by the Ministry of Defence as a means to target patients injured in demonstrations against the government. I found this deeply disturbing and described it as a “violation […]
Stephen Ginn: Living in emergency
The RSM’s Global health and human rights film club launched on 8 September 2011 with a screening of director Mark Hopkins’ Living in Emergency. Filmed in the war zones of Liberia and Congo it follows four volunteer doctors providing emergency care under the aegis of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The film’s urgent title is borne out […]
Philipp du Cros: The personal experiences of patients living with MDR-TB
What goes through a person’s mind when they are told they have multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and face at least eight months of injections and nearly two years of medication? What are they thinking when they find out that the drugs they have to take will make them feel sick, and the side effects they […]
Tejshri Shah on scrapping healthcare fees in developing countries
A group of doctors warned last week that if climate change is not effectively tackled we all face a health catastrophe. What they did not say is that the catastrophe is already here for millions of the world’s poorest people, because when they get sick, or even have a baby, they cannot afford the medical […]
David Payne on charity knitting
Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is a Canadian knitter who challenges people to think long and hard before they buy something over the course of a week. At the end of the week, during which you’ve hopefully resisted the temptation of capuccinos, theatre trips, jeans, shoes, meals out etc, you work out what you’ve saved and donate the […]
A day in the life of an MSF doctor
This evening I am pretty tired again. January and December tend to be the busiest months for the Emergency Unit and there have been a higher percentage than normal of really sick HDU/ITU type cases lately. The days are pretty unpredictable, like A&E at home. The numbers may not seem that high on paper, but […]
Tejshri Shah on the BMJ/MSF appeal
My name is Tejshri Shah and I am the head of the medical unit of Médecins Sans Frontières UK, the Manson Unit. When asked to be a guest blogger for the BMJ and help promote the BMJ Christmas Appeal for MSF, my mind raced back to my first mission and a little boy, who for […]