MSF Podcasts

#96 Inside Somalia: MSF Malnutrition Ward Is "Beyond Full"

28 July 2011

The effects of ongoing drought in the Horn of Africa region have intensified the situation in Somalia, already precarious due to 20 years of violent conflict: food prices have gone up, livestock are dying, and humanitarian aid in the country is scarce. MSF's Marere Hospital in southern Somalia is the only health facility in the area. A Somali nurse from Marere described the current crisis.

#95 In Helmand Province, Treating Diseases Before They Become Deadly

15 July 2011

Gunshot wounds and bomb blasts are not the only life-threatening consequences of war in Afghanistan's Helmand Province. Diseases and conditions such as diarrhea and respiratory tract infections can go untreated and become deadly. In MSF's new outpatient department in Boost Hospital, staff are able to focus on these cases and the challenges they bring.

#94 In Former Soviet Bloc Prisons, Controlling TB Proves Challenging

08 July 2011

In the former Soviet bloc country of Kyrgyzstan, MSF has been supporting TB care for prisoners since 2005. The aim is to reduce transmission of TB and treat those who have it. But working within the penitentiary system, which has proven to be a fertile breeding ground for the disease, presents some major challenges.

#93 One of the Largest Refugee Camps in the World is Full And Hundreds More Arrive Every Day

27 June 2011

Somali refugees escaping the conflict in their country continue to arrive en masse in Dadaab, Kenya. The three camps are now home to close to four times the number of people they were built for; collectively, they form one of the largest refugee camps in the word. And yet newly arrived families can no longer get inside.

#91 HIV Treatment is Also HIV Prevention

08 June 2011

New research has proved conclusively that treatment of HIV can reduce the transmission of the disease from one person to another by 96 percent. In other words, HIV treatment is also HIV prevention. The UN Summit on HIV/AIDS starts on June 8 and officials will decide on a blueprint for the next decade of the global response to the epidemic. Will global leaders act now to save millions of lives and prevent millions of new infections?

#91: HIV Treatment is Also HIV Prevention

07 June 2011

This week in New York, heads of state and health ministers from the around the world will make decisions that will impact the lives of millions of people. At the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS beginning June 8, officials are expected to hammer out a blueprint for the next decade of the global response to the epidemic. The meeting takes place exactly 30 years since the discovery of HIV/AIDS and ten years after HIV/AIDS treatment started in developing countries.

It also follows closely on the heels of an immensely important medical finding. Just a few weeks ago new research supported by the US National Institutes of Health proved conclusively that treatment can reduce the transmission of HIV from one person to another by 96 percent. In other words, HIV treatment is also HIV prevention. This is something MSF has begun to see in its HIV projects, and having scientific confirmation of this evidence provides a crucial piece of support going forward.

#90: Sudan: Thousands Displaced After Clashes in Abyei Region

02 June 2011

People in Abyei live on the frontlines of an ongoing battle for control. New clashes that began on May 20 have pushed thousands from their homes and made them even more vulnerable to medical complications.