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Treating multi drug resistant TB and HIV/AIDS in Manipur, India

Access to medicines

Unaffordable, unavailable, not adapted - people around the world face these challenges in accessing lifesaving medicines.

During the 1990s, MSF teams made a bitter observation: we were failing to treat some of our patients suffering from infectious diseases, while in developed countries, remarkable progress was being made in the field of health. Two decades on, medicines in developing countries are still either too expensive, aren't suitable to be used in many of the contexts in which we work (for example, in hot, humid conditions or where there's a lack of electricity), or simply don't exist for the diseases we need to treat.

In 1999, we launched the Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines, now known as the Access Campaign. Its mission focuses on three areas: overcoming barriers to access to essential medicines, stimulating research and development for neglected diseases, promoting health exceptions to global trade agreements.

In 2003, MSF joined several research institutes, including the Institut Pasteur, to create the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a non-profit research and development organisation engaged in research and development of new treatments for neglected diseases.

 
Website

MSF Access Campaign

msfaccess.org
 
Photo Story

Ten stories that mattered in Access to Medicines in 2010

30 Dec 2010
Photo Story
 
South Sudan

Preparing for potential emergencies in southern Sudan

Project Update 29 Dec 2010
 
South Sudan

'A people way too used to suffering'

Project Update 16 Dec 2010
 
India

At EU-India Summit, European negotiators urged not to block access to affordable medicines

Press Release 10 Dec 2010
 
HIV/AIDS

Denied funding puts HIV patients in low-income countries at risk of death

Project Update 8 Dec 2010
 
Global

Interview: Dr. Cathy Hewison discusses 'revolutionary' Meningitis vaccine

Voices from the Field 6 Dec 2010
 
Global

Licensing deal threatens cheap pharmaceuticals

Project Update 1 Dec 2010
 
Global

Nathan Ford: Flying in the face of evidence

Voices from the Field 1 Dec 2010
 
Access to medicines

MSF open letter to European Trade Commissioner De Gucht

Project Update 8 Nov 2010
Up Next
30 August 2019