Happy Holi!
We are glad the month started with the festival of colors, mainly because February didn’t start out quite as well as we planned. Last month we expected a favorable verdict from the Delhi High Court on our challenge to Pfizer’s patent for its pneumonia vaccine. Pfizer’s lawyers have now asked for more time and the next hearing will be in April.
If you missed our last mail, we talked about MSF’s campaign against the patent granted by Pfizer for its pneumonia vaccine, Prevnar 13. More children die of pneumonia in India than anywhere else in the world which makes the patent challenge very important.
The good news is the government seems to be ready to roll out the National Action Plan on Hepatitis C. We will share details with you once we get our hands on it. Speaking of Hepatitis C, later this week we are releasing information regarding our clinic in Meerut where we have treated close to 1200 patients in the past year. This will include interviews with patients, staff, picture stories as well as a video explaining our model of care.There are a ton of interesting stories you may wish to share or write about. We even interviewed a rural medical practitioner who, during the course of his treatment at our clinic, learned reusable syringes can lead to the undetected spread of HCV among communities. He has since switched to disposable syringes in his practice. Do mail us if you think the content might be of interest to you, we’d love to share it.
For MSF, arguably the most important highlight of the month was the release of critical new research published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal which could pave the way for better and more accessible treatment of drug-resistant Tuberculosis. The research shows that the combination of two drugs, delamanid and bedaquiline, can be used to treat DR-TB effectively and safely with minimal side effects.There is little solid evidence or guidance that exists for using delamanid and bedaquiline in combination for patients with high levels of drug resistance. To bridge this gap in evidence, in 2016 MSF pooled data to measure both the safety and early effectiveness of the combination among patients in Armenia, South Africa and India who received the two drugs together as part of their treatment.
“Doctors feel an overwhelming sense of frustration sitting in front of patients with limited treatment options, knowing that their patients’ journeys would be long, arduous and often futile. Suddenly we had two promising new drugs to offer, which were potentially more effective and had fewer side effects.” Dr. Gabriella Ferlazzo, TB Advisor with MSF.
The results were promising: of 23 patients with high levels of drug resistance, 17 (74%) tested negative for TB after six months of treatment, an early indicator that the treatment may be successful. You can read more about the research here. MSF has been treating drug-resistant Tuberculosis in an independent clinic in Mumbai since 2006. You can read about the project here.
MSF Doctor Joan providing a consultation to an extensively drug-resistant TB, in the MSF clinic in Mumbai.Photo: Atul Loke/MSF
We are also aware of the countless pictures of shelling and bombings in Syria shared on social media over the last one month. MSF has called for an immediate ceasefire to enable the basic human act of helping the sick and wounded. Casualty numbers in Syria’s besieged East Ghouta enclave are soaring as the capacity to provide healthcare is in its final throes. Over a period of 5 days between February 18 and 23, MSF has seen 520 deaths and more than 2,500 wounded patients. You can read more about our appeal here.
February 25 also marked six months since the most recent flare up of violence against the Rohingyas in Myanmar, sparking an exodus of refugees into Bangladesh. We mentioned this in our last email –but it bears repeating. These are vulnerable people continue to arrive in Bangladesh every week. Since August 2017, nearly 700,000 Rohingya refugees have arrived in Bangladesh fleeing the violence in neighboring Rakhine state of Myanmar. They stay in makeshift settlements in the southern district of Cox’s Bazar with limited access to water and sanitation and are increasingly susceptible to various diseases, the most threatening of which has been the diptheria outbreak. With the last major outbreak happening decades ago, most MSF staff had only ever seen diphtheria in textbooks. In this article MSF medical team leader Carla Pla describes the challenges of treating the disease amongst the refugee settlements of southeastern Bangladesh.
While the influx of refugees has decreased compared to when it started, the perilous conditions they have to live in make them vulnerable to even seasonal changes in weather. In this video, emergency coordinator Kate Nolan explains why the coming monsoon can wreak havoc in these camps.
We’d like to leave you with an account of Humaira, who had to flee violence and leave Myanmar’s Northern Rakhine state while pregnant. MSF team found her in a state of shock in a makeshift settlement and brought her to the closest MSF primary healthcare center.
Humaira is in a ward at MSF’s primary healthcare centre in Jamtoli. Photo: Anna Surinyach/MSF
You can read Humaira’s story here. If you are interested in watching a video interview of her, here’s a Youtube link.
Know someone in your newsroom who would be interested in our stories? Email us at aditi.sonrexa@new-delhi.msf.org
