In more than 70 countries, Médecins Sans Frontières provides medical humanitarian assistance to save lives and ease the suffering of people in crisis situations.
We set up the MSF Access Campaign in 1999 to push for access to, and the development of, life-saving and life-prolonging medicines, diagnostic tests and vaccines for people in our programmes and beyond.
Based in Paris, CRASH conducts and directs studies and analysis of MSF actions. They participate in internal training sessions and assessment missions in the field.
Based in Geneva, UREPH (or Research Unit) aims to improve the way MSF projects are implemented in the field and to participate in critical thinking on humanitarian and medical action.
Based in Brussels, MSF Analysis intends to stimulate reflection and debate on humanitarian topics organised around the themes of migration, refugees, aid access, health policy and the environment in which aid operates.
This logistical and supply centre in Brussels provides storage of and delivers medical equipment, logistics and drugs for international purchases for MSF missions.
This supply and logistics centre in Bordeaux, France, provides warehousing and delivery of medical equipment, logistics and drugs for international purchases for MSF missions.
This logistical centre in Amsterdam purchases, tests, and stores equipment including vehicles, communications material, power supplies, water-processing facilities and nutritional supplements.
SAMU provides strategic, clinical and implementation support to various MSF projects with medical activities related to HIV and TB. This medical unit is based in Cape Town, South Africa.
BRAMU specialises in neglected tropical diseases, such as dengue and Chagas, and other infectious diseases. This medical unit is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Our medical guidelines are based on scientific data collected from MSF’s experiences, the World Health Organization (WHO), other renowned international medical institutions, and medical and scientific journals.
Providing epidemiological expertise to underpin our operations, conducting research and training to support our goal of providing medical aid in areas where people are affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or excluded from health care.
Evaluation Units have been established in Vienna, Stockholm, and Paris, assessing the potential and limitations of medical humanitarian action, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of our medical humanitarian work.
MSF works with LGBTQI+ populations in many settings over the last 25-30 years. LGBTQI+ people face healthcare disparities with limited access to care and higher disease rates than the general population.
The Luxembourg Operational Research (LuxOR) unit coordinates field research projects and operational research training, and provides support for documentation activities and routine data collection.
The MSF Paediatric Days is an event for paediatric field staff, policy makers and academia to exchange ideas, align efforts, inspire and share frontline research to advance urgent paediatric issues of direct concern for the humanitarian field.
The MSF Foundation aims to create a fertile arena for logistics and medical knowledge-sharing to meet the needs of MSF and the humanitarian sector as a whole.
A collaborative, patients’ needs-driven, non-profit drug research and development organisation that is developing new treatments for neglected diseases, founded in 2003 by seven organisations from around the world.
Worldwide, an estimated 58 million people are infected with the hepatitis C virus, with about 1.5 million new infections occurring per year.
While hepatitis C can be cured, few people have access to treatment.
A blood-borne virus that attacks the liver, hepatitis C kills hundreds of thousands of people each year, mostly from resulting complications, usually cirrhosis or liver cancer.
While hepatitis C is found worldwide, the vast majority of people with the disease live in developing countries; China, India, Egypt, and Indonesia are particularly affected.
Hepatitis C is a curable disease, but millions don't have access to treatment due to high prices.
Website
MSF Access Campaign
msfaccess.org
5,810
5,81
people started on hepatitis C treatment under MSF care in 2023
Quick facts about hepatitis C
01Unaffordable treatment
Direct-acting antiviral medicines (DAAs) represent a treatment breakthrough for people with hepatitis C. Yet access to DAAs has been limited because pharmaceutical corporations charge unaffordable prices and, in some places, have blocked the entry of affordable generics with patents. This has led many countries to reserve treatment only for people with the most advanced stages of the disease.
02Complex treatment
Hepatitis C diagnosis and monitoring is complex, involving multiple tests and resulting in an expensive and resource-intensive process. Laboratory-based tests to measure hepatitis C viral load – needed to confirm active infection and monitor the effectiveness of treatment – are complex, requiring well-resourced laboratories and skilled staff. Simpler, affordable tests that are suitable for use in resource-limited settings are needed to enable access to hepatitis C treatment for all who need it.
03Challenging patents
For access to treatment to be scaled up worldwide, the price of DAA drugs urgently needs to come down. Competition among generic producers is already driving down prices, but many countries are not able to access these generic versions because of patent barriers. As a result, countries are having to ration treatment to people. To overcome this and ensure affordable access, MSF is challenging the patent barriers in China and Europe through legal oppositions in court cases.
video
When Big Pharma plays for keeps, who wins and who loses? (ENG)
When Big Pharma plays for keeps, who wins and who loses?
In this video, we follow the development of sofosbuvir, a true breakthrough drug for hepatitis C, a severe virus that attacks the liver and can be deadly.
The story of sofosbuvir illustrates how research and development for new prescription drugs really works.
After a scientist who got millions in tax-dollars started a small company that did the long work of discovering a new medicine, and showed that it was safe and effective, a giant corporation bought up the next big blockbuster drug and cashed in.
As the new owner of sofosbuvir, Gilead continued clinical trials to learn more about the drug’s effectiveness, safety, side-effects and dosage before seeking government approval to bring the new drug to market.
Gilead first set the price for sofosbuvir at $1000 per pill. That made its worth per gram 67 times greater than gold, but research shows that it only costs $42 to produce.
Access to medicines
Hepatitis C - Not even close
msfaccess.org30 Oct 2017
Photo Story
Treating hepatitis C in Phnom Penh
21 Aug 2017
Photo Story
Libya
Providing assistance to migrants and refugees
Voices from the Field23 Jun 2017
Hepatitis C
MSF joins Europe-wide action challenging patent on key hepatitis C drug
Press Release26 Mar 2017
Killer diseases
Seven killer diseases under the microscope
Documentary27 Jan 2017
Access to medicines
MSF urges governments to set medical research policies that align with people’s health needs
Press Release13 Sep 2016
India
At EU-India Summit, India must defend its pharmacy of the developing world
Press Release29 Mar 2016
Pakistan
Stories from patients cured of hepatitis C at MSF’s Machar Clinic in Karachi
Voices from the Field9 Mar 2016
Pakistan
When they are diagnosed with hepatitis C, patients think they will die
Voices from the Field9 Mar 2016
Research & Analysis
International Activity Report 2017
Hepatitis C: pushing for access to the cure
7 Jun 2018
Website
Killer Diseases
killer-diseases.org
Related topics
Medical activities
HIV/AIDS
Around 630,000 people died from HIV-related causes, while 1.3 million people became newly infected with the HIV virus in 2022.
Europe & Central Asia
Belarus
We are working with the Ministry of Health in Belarus to improve adherence to treatment for patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis.
220
People started on treatment for MDR-TB
Europe & Central Asia
Ukraine
As war continues in Ukraine, we are responding to people impacted by the fighting.
167,000
outpatient consultations
21,900
individual mental health consultations
1,300
patients evacuated by medical train
Medical Resource
MSF Field Research
We produce important research based on our field experience. So far, we have published articles in over 100 peer-reviewed journals. These articles have often changed clinical practice and have been used for humanitarian advocacy. All of these articles can be found on our dedicated Field Research website.
