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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

Seven million vaccinated for meningitis in West Africa

12 May 2009
Photo Story
 
Moldova

MSF hands over prison HIV treatment programme in Transnistria, Moldova

Project Update 11 May 2009
 
Access to medicines

Generic production must be part of solution for access to influenza medicines

Project Update 8 May 2009
 
Niger

In the midst of Niger's vaccination campaign, treatment is essential for those who contract meningitis

Project Update 16 Apr 2009
 
Haiti

Haiti's public health system failing patients

Press Release 14 Apr 2009
 
HIV/AIDS

MSF responds to World Health Organization's new HIV treatment guidelines

Project Update 12 Apr 2009
 
Access to medicines

New malaria drug subsidy fails to ensure patients receive best treatment options - procurement policies must change

Press Release 8 Apr 2009
 
Project Update

MSF to vaccinate over four million people in West Africa for meningitis

Project Update 2 Apr 2009
 
China

People with drug-resistant tuberculosis neglected by governments

Press Release 31 Mar 2009
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30 August 2019