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Unsafe abortion is a major cause of maternal death, and the only one that is completely preventable. Yet over 30 million unsafe abortions occur each year, leading to at least 29,000 deaths and millions of serious complications—nearly all in low- and middle-income countries. MSF teams see these tragic consequences first-hand, treating thousands of patients every year with severe, potentially life-threatening effects from unsafe abortion.
To mark International Safe Abortion Awareness Day (28 September 2024), this Collection presents highlights of MSF’s work on safe abortion care (SAC) as a way to reduce maternal death and injury. By re-assessing and reshaping how our projects deliver SAC in fragile and conflict-affected settings, we have been able to significantly expand services in those contexts and across MSF projects globally. In parallel, we also conducted in-depth studies of abortion complications and their contributing factors in fragile settings, where a dearth of evidence limits understanding of women's needs in accessing comprehensive care. These findings are helping to identify gaps in service delivery and inform operational decision-making.
BACKGROUND
Access to safe abortion care (SAC) should be improved in fragile and humanitarian settings, and the implementation of interventions in that regard ar...
BACKGROUND
Abortion-related complications remain a main cause of maternal mortality. There is little evidence on the availability and quality of post-abortion c...
A dearth of evidence on abortion complications in fragile settings limits the understanding of women’s needs in access to comprehensive abortion care in contexts like Jigawa state. Th...
Antimicrobial resistance is a growing public health crisis, especially in countries with fragile health systems, population displacement or ongoing conflict. In 2019 antibiotic-resistant bacteria directly caused an estimated 1.27 million deaths, and contributed to 4.95 million deaths, tolls that will continue to increase if no effective action is taken.
MSF’s approach to combatting antimicrobial resistance combines three pillars: infection prevention and control, microbiology and surveillance, and rational use of antibiotics via antibiotic stewardship. Several studies characterize patterns and prevalence of antibiotic resistance among MSF patients, from civilians wounded in Middle East conflicts to hospitalized neonates in Central African Republic and Haiti. New technologies developed by MSF and partners are expanding local capacity for rapid, accurate laboratory diagnosis of infections, so that clinicians can prescribe the right antibiotic for each patient. Other work assesses the practices and challenges related to optimizing rational antibiotic use within health facilities and communities.
If you're interested in learning more about MSF's work in antimicrobial resistance, view the full list of MSF's publications on the topic.
The endTB project aims to find shorter, less toxic and more effective treatments for ‘multidrug-resistant TB’ (MDR-TB) through:
Covering 18 countries, the project is a partnership between Partners In Health, Médecins Sans Frontières, Interactive Research & Development and financial partners Unitaid and the Transformational Investment Capacity (TIC) of MSF. This collection contains the final and intermediate results of the studies, advocacy reports, and study presentations. For more information about the endTB project, visit https://endtb.org/.