This article was originally published in Policy Options by Adam R Houston, Matthew Herder, and Srinivas Murthy. As governments move on from the COVID-19 pandemic, the policy conversation has shifted to the next threat. Whether that’s H5N1 – a strain of influenza virus currently spreading among cattle and in some instances to humans – or […]
Read More… from Canada’s pandemic preparedness investments still make equity an afterthought
The Government of Canada recently issued a formal response to a petition supported by international medical organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) calling on Canada to increase its humanitarian assistance for Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where millions of people are in desperate need as a result of a violent armed conflict and the […]
Amid a daunting number of high-profile international emergencies consuming global attention in recent months, a massive humanitarian crisis has been causing widespread suffering in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the past two years, seemingly out of sight for much of the world. Since March 2022, an estimated 1.6 million people who live near […]
Adam R Houston, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa and Jason Nickerson, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa As a medical organization, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is no stranger to measles, which has long been a serious and ongoing concern in many places where MSF operates. However, new challenges, such as the disruption of health systems caused […]
More than three years since a military coup in Myanmar led to a surge in conflict across the country, the United Nations estimates that almost two million people have been internally displaced by the ongoing violence, while thousands more have fled to neighbouring countries. In Rakhine State – an area in the west of Myanmar […]
A version of this article appears in Policy Options magazine. The negotiation text of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) proposed Pandemic Treaty, released Oct 30th, contains language around not only equitable access to pandemic products like medicines and vaccines, but sustainable production of these products. Thankfully, Canadian proposals that would have undermined equitable access were […]
Read More… from Pandemic Preparedness Cannot Forget Existing Tools or Existing Diseases
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2023 Global Tuberculosis (TB) Report released today shows that the estimated global incidence of TB in 2022 remains unacceptably high, including for the more difficult to treat form of this disease, drug-resistant TB (DR-TB). With an estimated 1.3 million people having died from TB in 2022, and still only about […]
Ahead of 7th meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) for the World Health Organization’s (WHO) agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPR), Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) urged all countries to guarantee that the principles of equity, solidarity, transparency, inclusivity and accountability are at the centre of all future PPR negotiations and […]
Read More… from Equitable access to lifesaving medical products must be prioritized
In Mumbai, MSF runs an independent private clinic to treat drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB). India has one of the world’s highest burdens of TB, and Mumbai is a hotspot for the disease. Here, MSF’s clinic focuses on extensive drug-resistant cases, a form of the disease that has limited treatment options. The team uses newer drugs in […]
Read More… from Glimpses into the Fight Against Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (DR-TB)
On Aug. 24, 2023, the Canadian government finally released an outcomes document from the Pandemic Instrument Partner and Stakeholder Engagement Forum it held March 21 to 22, with more than 160 participants from multiple sectors. We both attended representing Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). During the intervening five months, multiple rounds of negotiations of […]