World Malaria Day 2022

Unsafe abortion is a leading cause of maternal death, and the only one that is completely preventable. Yet over 30 million unsafe abortions occur each year, leading to at least 28,000 deaths and millions of serious complications—nearly all in low- and middle-income countries. MSF teams see these tragic consequences first-hand, treating thousands of patients every year with severe, potentially life-threatening effects from unsafe abortion. So in 2016 we launched a program to systematically implement safe abortion care (SAC), starting with ten pilot sites and then applying the lessons learned to scale up at projects across the globe. This Collection presents highlights of these efforts. Since our first publication on the need to provide SAC as a way of reducing maternal death and injury, several studies assessed the role of unsafe abortion in driving this suffering in specific contexts. Others described internal obstacles to providing SAC, operational solutions developed, and outcomes achieved. And we advocated for shifting towards community-led and self-managed SAC, particularly given new obstacles that emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The World Health Organization estimates that 410,000 people developed a drug-resistant tuberculosis infection (DR-TB) in 2022, only 40% of whom were diagnosed and started on treatment—and only 63% then cured. Given all these points of failure, innovation in preventing, diagnosing and treating DR-TB cannot come fast enough. To mark World TB Day (24 March 2024) the content collection linked below highlights recent work by MSF and collaborators to help change this grim picture. The TB-PRACTECAL and endTB studies delivered robust evidence for shorter, safer, more effective drug regimens that are already saving lives worldwide. Other studies explore new approaches to preventive treatment and simpler, quicker, accurate detection of TB and drug resistance—especially among difficult-to-diagnose populations such as children and people living with HIV. But to impact DR-TB globally these innovations must become widely accessible. This requires changes on many fronts, as described in an accompanying Collection (Expanding Access to Lifesaving New TB Tools).

On 16 May people from within and outside MSF will gather in London, joined by online participants from over 100 countries, for this annual ‘conference without borders’ showcasing medical research from fragile and conflict affected settings. All too often the populations MSF and others work with are excluded from the benefits of research. Yet they are the ones that often need these benefits most. So speakers will consider how MSF’s research has impacted the way our projects deliver care, how knowledge gaps can be pivotal to political gatekeeping and to triggering appropriate humanitarian responses, and how identifying best practices and funding innovation are key to improving our capacity to act. Here you can view abstracts for all scientific presentations, which focus on infectious diseases, outbreaks, vaccination, and mortality.