08 February 2012
MSF South Africa, TAC, Section27 & He-Tic Warn on Eve of Crucial Summit
JOHANNESBURG – As India and the European Union prepare to meet at a New Delhi summit to finalize a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) under negotiation since 2007, Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), SECTION27 and He-Tic held a picket to warn that harmful provisions in the agreement could have a severely negative impact on access to medicine for people in developing countries.
The picket, which took place in front of the Indian Consulate in Johannesburg, was part of a global week of action by civil society and health activists...
01 February 2012
Johannesburg/Musina - Thousands of asylum seekers fleeing instability and persecution run the risk of deportation at one of South Africa’s busiest border regions as immigration authorities make it impossible to apply for asylum, contravening national and international Refugee Law and showing blatant disregard for the humanitarian and medical consequences, warns Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF). The international medical humanitarian organisation, which treats vulnerable migrants in its medical projects in and around Musina and Johannesburg, calls upon the South African Government to respect its obligations for the protection of asylum seekers and refugees coming to its borders...
25 November 2011
20 December 2011
While most nations are dependent to some extent on the world’s 214 million migrants for skills and labour, few ensure these migrants have access to their health systems, something that could have dire public health consequences, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM)...
Meanwhile, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and several other organizations have raised concerns about the poor access to medical services for migrants detained in the border town of Musina.... We’ve come across [HIV-positive] patients who were arrested and detained there without their ARVs," said Christine Mwongera, MSF's project coordinator in Musina. "We also found TB cases that hadn’t been...
29 November 2011
The Global Fund for HIV/Aids, TB and Malaria, one of the most important and influential donor organisations, has cancelled its 11th round of funding for HIV/AIDS. Aymeric Peguillan, Head of Mission for MSF in Swaziland talks about the potentially disastrous impact these funding cuts could have on those with HIV/Aids in the southern African region.
Listen to the interview below.
04 December 2011
The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria has introduced a stop-gap measure to keep essential services going, but has cut off a lifeline for civil organisations counting on new grants. The stop-gap, called the transitional funding mechanism, will provide emergency funds to continue essential prevention, treatment and care services that are now financed by the body...
Civil society organisations are sorely disappointed, as they were counting on "round 11" grants to pay for their projects after missing out on round 10, which disbursed $1.73-billion to 64 countries for 79 disease proposals. A panel of civil organisations, including Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), Section27, Treatment Action Campaign and Malawi Network...
29 November 2011
The Global Fund to fight Aids, TB and malaria is in financial crisis, HIV groups warned yesterday. They said this is expected to have a severe impact on southern African HIV programmes for treatment and prevention. The groups, which include the Budget Expenditure Monitoring Forum, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and Doctors Without Borders, met in Braamfontein to highlight the extent of the problem.
Doctors Without Borders described the recent announcement by the board of the Global Fund on a shortage of funding as "shocking"...
Read full article below.
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29 November 2011
As die krisis oor internasionale skenkings nie gou opgelos word nie, kan Suid-Afrika terugkeer na die "slegte ou dae" to anti-retrovirale middles (ARM) gerantsoeneer moes word. Dit kan die MIV-oordragkoers laat styg...
Dr. Eric Goemaere van MSF Suid-Afrika het gese tien jaar gelede was die situasie baie erg, maar sedert 2001 het dit verbeter en die wereldfonds het die situasie verander...
Read full article below.
08 December 2011
This week, world leaders will gather in Geneva to commemorate 60 years of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.
Yet it is an anniversary that the world’s 15.1 million refugees have little reason to celebrate. Today, states are increasingly shutting their borders and restricting the assistance they give to refugees and people seeking asylum.
By Christopher Stokes, MSF Belgium General Director
Read the briefing paper: The 60th anniversary of the UN Refugee Convention: refugee crises in 2011 and challenges for the future
Refugees from the recent conflict in Libya are assessed by MSF staff in Lampedusa, Italy. Photo: Mattia Insolera
We can expect ministers and heads of state to...