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It’s been two years since India rolled out Bedaquiline - one of two new drugs showing high promise in treating drug-resistant TB (DR-TB)- in a phase-wise control trial. Presently, over 140 centers provide access to the drug and about 1,000 patients have received the drug.

South Africa however, has decided to increase access to the drug.  The country’s National Department of Health announced last week that it would now provide Bedaquiline as part of the country’s national treatment regimen for all adult and adolescent multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensive drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) patients.

The move makes it the first country to include the drug in a short-course treatment regimen for DR-TB and replaces the highly toxic antibiotic injectable presently in use.

The decision by South Africa’s government paves the way for others, especially high burden countries like India, to look into and adopt a treatment regimen involving Bedaquiline. South Africa has been leading from the front in setting up policies to secure access to Bedaquiline. A year after US Food and Drug Administration’s approval of Bedaquiline, South Africa’s Medicine Control Council approved the use of the drug, for patients who are resistant to most standard drugs. On June 18, the government took one step ahead and introduced Bedaquiline to all MDR-TB and XDR-TB patients.

To understand why this is so important we recommend reading this story by CNN that wonderfully weaves a patient story with the announcement by the South African government.

“The standard treatment for MDR-TB is currently effective only 50% of the time and includes a painful injectable antibiotic known to cause terrible toxic side effects, including kidney failure and hearing loss. Experience with Bedaquiline in treating drug-resistant TB – mainly from South Africa - demonstrates improved clinical outcomes in people living with MDR-TB, and initial evidence shows that it can be safely and effectively used in place of the toxic injectable,” says MSF’s Dr. Anja Reuter, a DR-TB doctor in Khayelitsha in the Western Cape, where MSF has run a DR-TB program since 2007.

We don’t just rely on medicine when it comes to delivering lifesaving medical care.  Our medical and non-medical staff across the world witness firsthand the gaps in existing health structures. We take those experiences and dig deeper through research and innovation, with the aim that this operational research will help address some of the biggest crises of our times.   Every year, we share the research, innovations and experiences on Scientific Day. On July 16, treatment providers, health groups and medical experts will come together for the 2018 MSF Scientific Day, to engage on treatment and humanitarian programmes across the region. Among the interesting group of presenters we have is Nandita Venkatesan, a TB advocate and journalist who has experienced first hand, the toxicity of TB drugs and what it can do to your body. Nandita is also a journalist, TEDx speaker and a classical dancer. Also speaking at the event is Nobhojit Roy,  National Advisor for Public Health Planning under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Here’s a link to the Sci Day agenda. You can get more details about our speakers here.

Next month also marks one year since the Rohingya exodus began. More than 700,000 Rohingya refugees have arrived in Cox's Bazar district in southeastern Bangladesh since late August 2017 after fleeing targeted violence in Rakhine state, Myanmar.  In December last year, MSF had also surveyed refugee settlement camps in Bangladesh that estimated that at least 6,700 Rohingya were killed due to violence in Rakhine state, Myanmar. On Scientific Day, we will also be having a session on the Rohingya refugee crisis. Medical experts who have worked in the field in Bangladesh, some of them for more than a year, will be presenting their research.  Do take a look at the agenda for more information! 

Sci Day isn’t the only exciting event we have in store for July. Some of the best minds in public health innovation will be under the same roof on July 17, showcasing innovative tools and approaches in medical humanitarian settings, including drone delivery of medicines and solar powered hospitals. Those in attendance include ICRC, , Path, and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. We would also be looking at unique Indian innovations so don’t miss a chance to attend the workshop! 

If you decide to attend, you may want to stick around afterwards to help us put vulnerable populations on the maps through a mapathon. This unique event, called the Missing Maps project, is held across the world where volunteers, some online and others on the ground, come together to map the world’s crisis areas so that humanitarian organisations can respond to emergencies faster and better.

Accurate and up-to-date maps are vital for not just MSF, but other aid organisations responding to natural disasters, epidemics or wars; but often these do not exist. The maps published will be a key resource for all humanitarian organisations, as well as being open-source and freely available to anyone who needs them.  Pete Masters, medical innovation adviser for MSF and the brains behind the Missing Maps project will be leading the Mapathon.  Here’s a short introduction by Pete talking about the project and his role.

“In the age of Google Earth, it is hard to imagine that there are still communities in the world that don’t appear on any official maps, But there are – places such as the Central African Republic. When it comes to emergency response, maps are vital for coordinating resources effectively and assessing areas of need” says Pete Masters, Missing Maps coordinator from MSF.