This week’s replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria offered the first test of whether Canada is still willing to stand up for humanity since the government passed a federal budget that singles out global health for cuts as it slashes billions of dollars in international assistance. MSF is deeply disappointed […]
After seven years of false accusations, defamatory statements, and a blatant criminalisation campaign towards organisations performing search and rescue operations at sea, the investigation launched by the prosecutor’s office in Trapani, Sicily in late 2016 was dismissed today. The case saw Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and other organisations conducting search and rescue investigated […]
Signing confidentiality clauses on supply & pricing blocks transparency and accountability Today, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières(MSF) asked ViiV Healthcare to withdraw conditions in negotiations for a purchase agreement that are holding up procurement of the preventative HIV drug cabotegravir long-acting (CAB-LA) for key and vulnerable populations*, due to the pharmaceutical corporation’s last-minute insertion of terms […]
Opening Statement – Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), June 12, 2023 For the past 52 years, and today in over 70 countries, Doctors Without Borders or Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has alleviated suffering by delivering impartial, neutral, independent medical humanitarian assistance in line with international humanitarian law and medical ethics. Here in Canada, more […]
Nearly 40 percent of people in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh have scabies according to the results of a prevalence survey conducted by the health sector in May. In some camps this figure is as high as 70 percent. This reflects what Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has seen in our clinics where we’ve conducted […]
This spring, Canada’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Research (SRSR) is holding meetings on Support for the Commercialization of Intellectual Property. More information on these meetings, including submissions, can be found here: https://www.ourcommons.ca/Committees/en/SRSR/StudyActivity?studyActivityId=12062854 MSF is concerned that this discussion overemphasizes the monetization of intellectual property (IP) such as patents while overlooking the importance of societal […]
by Adam R. Houston. Originally published on Policy Options on May 12, 2023 Despite some recent commentary on the federal government’s approach to consulting stakeholders on the proposed pandemic treaty currently being negotiated under the World Health Organization (WHO), little attention has been paid to the positions Canada itself has actually adopted or their potential repercussions. The problem has been fueled […]
Read More… from Canada’s positions on the international pandemic treaty are concerning
Since 2014, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been supporting the Sokoto Noma Hospital, the only hospital in Nigeria – and one of the few in the world -, with a programme of activities for people affected by noma, including noma survivors and their families. Noma is a neglected disease that affects people, especially children, […]
Reporting by Politico today suggests that the Canadian Government appears sympathetic to pharmaceutical industry objections to the TRIPS Waiver – a measure proposed at at the World Trade Organization to temporarily waive certain intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has time and again witnessed how monopoly rights […]
By Adam Houston, Medical Policy and Advocacy Officer for MSF Canada.
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