Is the military donning a new kind of camouflage, one that puts civilians and humanitarians at risk? That is the question that surfaced in recent discourses on the 2014 Defence Review which envisages the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) involving itself in providing humanitarian assistance, and additionally reconstruction and development during complex crises under […]
Doctors Without Borders (MSF)
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation committed to medical care to people affected by crises including conflict, epidemics and disasters. MSF has been working in South Africa since 1999.
Posted inHealth, News/Politics
Why MSF decided to leave Somalia
By Dr Unni Karunakara Our announcement on August 14 that we were closing all our medical programmes in Somalia sent shockwaves through political and humanitarian communities. It came at a moment when world leaders, for the first time in decades, began making positive noises about a country on the road to recovery and with a […]
Posted inEquality, General, Health
In India, HIV history repeats itself
By Sharon Ekambaram Recently, Mumbai Aids activists took to the streets protesting the Indian government’s failure to protect people living with HIV from discrimination. More than 20 years after South African activists took up the same fight at home, the protests are a stark reminder that the battle for equality, dignity and access to life-saving […]
Posted inHealth, News/Politics
Health workers in the firing line
By Peter Maurer and Unni Karunakara Whether it’s health facilities being used to identify and apprehend enemies, or ambulances blocked from accessing the wounded, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) strongly condemn any act that deliberately aims to distort medical action and to deny healthcare to the sick […]
Posted inNews/Politics
TB in SA: The good, bad and long overdue
By Andrew Mews and Vuyiseka Dubula Tuberculosis remains South Africa’s leading cause of death. This year alone, the country will see 500 000 cases, of which about 3% will be resistant to both of the most commonly used anti-TB drugs. The majority of these patients will have caught drug-resistant TB from someone in their community, most […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
EU must show leadership in fight against HIV, Aids
By Marielle Bemelmans After decades of struggle against HIV, there is still an urgent need to do more to stop needless deaths. Despite effective and largely affordable drugs, tools and models of care, 1.7 million die annually from Aids-related illnesses. This is unacceptable. Earlier this week, the European Commission hosted a Brussels meeting to discuss the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Brics can unlock deadly stalemate, bring humanitarian relief to Syrians
By Jonathan Whittall On one of my first visits into Syria with MSF, I arrived on a cold night in a city with no electricity and shortages of food. A community under siege hosted me while they lived in fear, huddled into basements in an attempt to escape the continuous bombing. I saw field hospitals […]
Posted inGeneral
Playing the politics of exclusion means everyone loses
By Sharon Ekambaram Elbow tests and “amakwerekwere” — these are some of the new markers of difference in South Africa, but playing the politics of exclusion in public health gives new meaning to the slogan “an injury to one is an injury to all”. Although estimates vary, as many as 3.3 million migrants from neighbouring countries […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
A dangerous game of darts in the dark
By Daniel Berman and Gregory Hussey South Africa claims with pride its status as a middle-income country and economic powerhouse but when it comes to saving the lives of children through routine immunisations, we are far behind neighbouring countries. By 2010, South Africa was already spending R1.2 billion on vaccine procurement every year but child vaccination […]