MSF Access

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Dr Monica Rull, MSF Access Interim Executive Director, speaking about principles for equitable access to medical tools for Bundibugyo virus disease.
Ebola disease caused by the Bundibugyo virus. What is different this time? - No validated therapeutics or vaccines - Limited diagnostic tools Bundibugyo virus is different than other virus causing Ebola disease.
Yuanqiong Hu, Head of Analysis, MSF Access, delivering a statement at the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva.
An MSF vehicle transports staff as part of measles vaccination activities in the Masisi territory, North Kivu, DRC, 2025. © Joelle Kayembe Balilonda/MSF
Vaccination campaign as part of an MSF and Ministry of Health emergency measles and rubella response in El Geneina, Sudan. 2026. © Cindy Gonzalez /MSF
Mohammed Suleiman, pharmacy supervisor for MSF in El Geneina City, Sudan, on reaching more children in humanitarian settings with vaccination.
"EU must not allow commercial and inward-looking national interests to stand in the way of progress towards global equitable access to medical tools." Piotr Kolczynski, Regional Advisor for Europe, MSF Access
“I would say if your kids are having any problems, do check them at proper hospitals like this clinic. Don’t go to clinics where you will get medicines without any proper diagnosis. Once you have the proper treatment, your children will get cured soon.” Nafisa, mother of Hareem, 5, & Ahmad, 4 | MSF patients at PMDT site Gujranwala, Punjab
"Previously, there were patients who fell into a borderline category. We suspected that the child had TB, but the tests did not show positive results. This algorithm has helped us a lot in such cases." Dr Saima Umar, Head of the Paediatrics Department at Gujranwala Teaching Hospital (Pakistan)
“In an already underfunded TB response, children are pushed further to the back of the line when services are disrupted by aid cuts, conflict, or displacement.” Dr Cathy Hewison, Tuberculosis Platform lead, MSF
“We’re seeing everything coming together at once: contexts becoming more complex and crises increasingly compounded, multi-layered and protracted. Given these constraints, Infection Prevention and Control, antimicrobial stewardship and microbiology are key essential strategies to provide quality care.” -- Dr Kalyan Velivela, MSF health programme manager for South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Nigeria.
"After two decades of determined resistance by affected communities and civil society, this moment marks a hard-fought victory. The exclusion of data exclusivity and patent term extension from Intellectual Property chapter are not abstract legal victories: they ensure that medicines do not remain out of reach for years after patents expire." Loon Gangte, President, Delhi Network of Positive People
Caroline Scopel, Susana van der Ploeg, Marcela Cristina Fogaça Vieira, Eloan dos Santos Pinheiro at the roundtable “Opposing Pharmaceutical Patents in Brazil: Political and Technical Strategies for Access to Medicines,” organized by GTPI/Abia at the Abrascão health congress, Brazil.
Shailly Gupta, MSF Access Communications Advisor, at a rally during the Union World Conference on Lung Health, marching with participants in support of children affected by tuberculosis.
FACT: CONCRETE ACTION IS NEEDED. Ensure equitable access to existing diagnostic tools, microbiology capacities, legacy and new lifesaving antibiotics, AND increase research and development for low-resource and humanitarian settings, where it is most needed.
MSF address AMR through dedicated prevention, detection, and response efforts: +20 countries, +50 projects. MSF's AMR response package includes infection prevention and control, antibiotic stewardship, and providing access to microbiology lab-based diagnostics and surveillance.
FACT Antimicrobial resistance (AMR): when microbes, like bacteria, evolve to survive exposure to antimicrobial medicines, such as antibiotics, used for treatment or prevention (prophylaxis). This makes antimicrobials less effective and infections more difficult to treat.
Candice Sehoma, MSF Access regional advisor for Africa.
The data released by WHO today once again underlines how tuberculosis continues to heavily impact children, with one child dying of the disease every 3 minutes in 2024. With the shocking cuts in international aid we are seeing this year, the children will be hit hardest as they already face the largest gaps in accessing TB care. We urge governments to prioritise the implementation of WHO-recommended tools and strategies to prevent, diagnose, and treat tuberculosis in children, and we urge international donors and technical agencies to step up funding and support for these efforts. MSF also calls on industry and international funders of research & development to ensure sufficient and sustained investments in the development of better tests and medicines for children. It’s time to turn the tide on tuberculosis, stop the suffering, and save more children’s lives.
"With TB resurgence in Europe, we’re witnessing a public health crisis that’s far from over. Yet the barriers to accessing essential TB medicines remain painfully familiar—monopolies, high prices, secrecy, and weak public safeguards in pharmaceutical policy." Jaime Manzano, Salud por Derecho
"Following the previous treatment regimen would have been a death sentence for me and my loved ones. Thanks to the possibility of accessing modern outpatient treatment in Poland, I was able to receive care in the best possible conditions - that is in my own home, being with my loved ones. This treatment allowed me to recover without sacrificing family life, work, or mental health." Olga*, DR-TB survivor. *Name changed to maintain anonymity. 
"We urge policymakers, parliamentarians, procurement bodies and regulatory agencies in the EU/EEA to act fast to bridge this deadly treatment gap otherwise the goal of eliminating TB for countries in Europe will remain a distant dream." Joanna Ładomirska, Medical Coordinator for MSF in Poland
“Gilead is paying lip service to equity and access while imposing restrictions on potential generic producers that will minimise scale-up of this game-changing [lenacapavir] drug while protecting and maximising its profits”, said Tom Ellman, Director of MSF Southern Africa Medical Unit.
TAG and MSF call on donor agencies, governments, and philanthropic organisations to urgently intervene to: - Ensure continuity of care and follow-up for research participants in South Africa already enrolled in impacted HIV and TB clinical research sites by providing emergency support. - Address urgent research gaps by funding vital HIV and TB trials that were planned or paused just before launch. - Make sustained investments to secure South Africa’s unique and internationally-recognised research infrastructure.
Impact on US-funded TB research in South Africa