Stories & News

A consortium of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and academic institutes that advocate for universal access to sexual and reproductive health services are calling on the Australian Government to prioritise the needs of women and girls in Australia’s global response to COVID-19 in order to mitigate the detrimental effects the pandemic is having on their sexual and reproductive health and rights.  

In the days following the attack to Dasht-e-Barchi hospital in Kabul, it has become clear that what happened in Kabul on 12 May was a deliberate assault on a maternity hospital with the purpose of killing mothers in cold blood. MSF Head of Pogrammes in Afghanistan Frederic Bonnot was there on the scene and shares his harrowing story.

The United States government must suspend all deportations to Latin America and the Caribbean as these actions are moving people from the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic to countries with lower rates of transmission and will exacerbate a public health crisis in the region.

Australian Hazel Singh worked on an assignment with Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2019. She reflects on her role as a Human Resources Manager, helping staff in our projects to improve their skills, knowledge and experience.

After more than a decade of armed conflict, outbreaks of severe malnutrition, malaria, measles and cholera, approximately 1.5 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Borno state now face the spectre of COVID-19. Many live in vastly overcrowded camps with poor water and sanitation facilities, limited supplies of hygiene essentials such as soap and water, and often no individual space at all. Functioning health infrastructure in Borno is scarce, and the capacity to refer patients is extremely limited. 

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) calls for no patents or profiteering on drugs, tests, or vaccines used for the COVID-19 pandemic, and for governments to prepare to suspend and override patents and take other measures, such as price controls, to ensure availability, reduce prices and save more lives.