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Mexico

Big Pharma puts block on cheap drug imports

Nick Mathiason on poor countries' ongoing struggle to obtain generic pharmaceuticals: For decades, 'big pharma' has fought to limit the scope of countries to import cheap copies of its patented drugs. In the post-industrial age, patents are the most valuable commodity a company has and are jealously guarded. - This article first appeared in The Observer Project Update - 3 Aug 2003
 
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Liberia

Monrovia casebook: Stray bullets threaten every corner of life

A 10-year-old girl called Amuchee had been hit by a stray bullet that had lodged in her arm but with no serious damage. One of the nurses told me that, in the local Bassa language, the child's name means "she will live." Project Update - 1 Aug 2003
 
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Uzbekistan

Thin Girl with a Headscarf

Richard Mowll worked for several months as a logistician with MSF in Uzbekistan. Below he describes an encounter with just one of thousands of Uzbeks suffering from tuberculosis. Project Update - 1 Aug 2003
 
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Liberia

Monrovia casebook: The old man I forgot

MSF volunteer, Dr Andrew Schechtman has been in the Liberian capital of Monrovia working with the local population, providing medical aid to people suffering from gunshot and mortar wounds to malaria and cholera. This casebook story is also available on the BBC website. Project Update - 31 Jul 2003
 
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Liberia

A cholera outbreak in Monrovia goes unchecked as street fighting continues

"Treating cholera is simple but controlling the spread of the disease is not, especially in the extremely poor sanitary conditions existing in Monrovia today," said an MSF staff member trying to describe the difficulty of controling the cholera epidemic in this embattled city. Project Update - 31 Jul 2003
 
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Liberia

Treating war wounded in a city under siege

One team that MSF had set up in West Point has transformed itself into a wheelbarrow ambulance brigade. They have taken it upon themselves to bring severely injured patients to the MSF hospital in Mamba Point by stretcher and wheelbarrow. On their return trips to West Point, they carry medical supplies, food and drinking water that MSF sends to help support the Catholic Mission Clinic there. Project Update - 30 Jul 2003
 
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Liberia

Monrovia casebook: "I feel safer when I hear the gunshots"

Dr Andrew Schechtman of MSF has been witnessing the tragedy unfold in the Liberian capital, Monrovia. A pregnant woman arrives and the team struggles to save the unborn baby. Another woman, a victim of rape, reaffirms the state of lawlessness in Monrovia.
Project Update - 30 Jul 2003
 
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Angola

MSF assists in repatriation of 440,000 Moxico refugees after 27 years of civil war in Angola

"Not only does the poor quality of the transport routes hamper our work - especially in rainy season - but there are 9-12 million landmines still littering Angola. That is more than one landmine per person. And as a result, access to the people most in need is extremely limited," said an MSF spokesperson. Project Update - 22 Jul 2003
 
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Turkmenistan

Dashoguzd: Little optimism in Turkmenistan's TB wards

Masks are hurriedly being handed out at the doorway of the tuberculosis sanatorium. Down the long dark corridor you can see the silhouettes of patients shuffling back to their rooms; ladies with mops and buckets of foul-smelling disinfectant appear out of nowhere and we are ushered in. Into the world of the category two failure and the chronic tuberculosis patient, the category four: the suspect "drug-resistants". Crammed into a room, the rusty iron beds touch one another. Project Update - 9 Jul 2003
 
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Democratic Republic of Congo

War or health: Humanitarian crisis worsens in war-torn Congo

In some villages the people are living in the most basic conditions and extremely emaciated people are found, locally they are called the 'living skeletons'. This boy is 18 years old and is suffering from severe malnutrition. Project Update - 9 Jul 2003
Cholera intervention in South Kivu
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Independent medical humanitarian assistance

We provide medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare. Our teams are made up of tens of thousands of health professionals, logistic and administrative staff - most of them hired locally. Our actions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of independence and impartiality. We are a non-profit, self-governed, member-based organisation.

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