MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'doctors without borders'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:12:18 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4872473&cid=t_167196_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FliBV1h4EAXA%2F File this under sticking point. The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations is coming under fire because a large vaccine maker that provides most of its income is about to become a pharma representative on its board. The move is prompting concerns about conflicts of interest amid demands for lower vaccine prices, The Financial Times writes. In July, Johnson & Johnson’s recently acquired Crucell unit will replace GlaxoSmithKline on the GAVI board (see this), which next month meets in London in hopes of raising $3.7 billion. But some non-governmental organizations say GAVI, which last year sent $825 million in donor funds to vaccination programs in poor countries, is not doing enough to lower prices paid for vaccines. “We think some conflicts are too big to manage,”... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4872473 Fri, 27 May 2011 13:02:26 +0100 4872473 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4753972&cid=t_167196_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2Fb_qg-ukLNv0%2F The ongoing refusal by Johnson & Johnson to partipicate in the Medicines Patent Pool, which is an initiative designed to streamline patent licensing for producing generics of patented HIV meds and offering lower prices in poor countries, has now generated a scolding from Doctors Without Borders, the international humanitarian organization. In a statement, the group accuses the health care giant of turning its corporate back on HIV patients by undermining access to key AIDS drugs. J&J holds patents on rilpivirine, which is being developed as a first-line HIV treatment, as well as darunavir and etravirine, two meds that treat HIV patients who have become resistent to other drugs. The missive appears carefully timed. Later this week, J&J will hold it annual shareholder meeting,... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4753972 Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:28:30 +0100 4753972 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4055956&cid=t_167196_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FtsVcPs4lKRU%2F The proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement has been causing a ruckus for nearly two years as consumer activists object to provisions that may allow European nations to seize low-cost generics under the guise of counterfeit products. The talks are designed to uphold intellectual property standards, according to this statement from US Trade Rep: “ACTA…will include state-of-the-art provisions on the enforcement of intellectual property rights, including provisions on civil, criminal, and border enforcement measures, robust cooperation mechanisms among ACTA Parties to assist in their enforcement efforts, and establishment of best practices for effective (intellectual property rights) enforcement.” But critics say the initiative goes too far and, with a final deal expect... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4055956 Mon, 11 Oct 2010 16:15:33 +0100 4055956 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4023135&cid=t_167196_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FxdkBOsxfVuk%2F The National Institutes of Health is joining an international patent pool in hopes of increasing the availability of medicines to treat HIV and AIDS in developing countries. By licensing a patent for darunavir, the agency becomes the first patent holder to take such a step, which was lauded by patient activist groups that, simultaneously, called on the pharmaceutical industry to quickly follow suit. The Medicines Patent Pool is a new initiative designed to streamline patent licensing for producing generic versions of patented HIV treatments and lower prices for meds in countries where people are unable to afford the drugs. The patent pool was launched recently by UNITAID, which has previously indicated several major drugmakers, including Merck and Gilead Sciences, have discussed signing up... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4023135 Fri, 01 Oct 2010 12:24:21 +0100 4023135 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3648801&cid=t_167196_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2Fy6IVMFN-_ZE%2F Three months ago, a controversy erupted in India where intellectual property conferences sponsored by drugmakers, law firms and others angered various non-profit groups that argued the sessions are little more than gussied up opportunities to lobby India’s judges and policy makers. In their view, these IP summits, which are organized by the George Washington University Law School, are attempts to influence sitting judges on patent law enforcement issues that are pending in Indian courts. At the time, more than 20 consumer groups and non-governmental organizations wrote to India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry to complain the meetings are used as forums by companies to promote their IP and lobby for amendments to existing law or plead cases before the Indian Patent Office. Now, ... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3648801 Thu, 10 Jun 2010 11:49:55 +0100 3648801 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3526946&cid=t_167196_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FzpqIM4B9T1U%2F Access to medicines in poor and developing countries remains a hot issue and the outcome can often be influenced by trade policies. For this reason, the annual report from the US Trade Representative is closely watched for signs that public policy strikes an even balance between basic human needs and the economic interests, notably patents, of key US industries, including the pharmaceutical industry. This time around, the US Trade Rep’s annual report (which you can read here) notes that the US affirms the conclusions of the Doha declaration of TRIPS, the trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (see this primer), and “respects a country’s right to protect public health and, in particular, to promote access to medicines for all, and supports the vital role of the ... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3526946 Mon, 03 May 2010 15:24:09 +0100 3526946 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3246841&cid=t_167196_83_f&fid=34856&url=http%3A%2F%2Finsidesurgery.com%2F2010%2F02%2Fhaiti-patients-benefit-increased-cooperation-aid-groups%2F Learning from their mistakes in the response to the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, medical aid organizations such as Doctors Without Borders and Merlin have cooperated in an unprecedented way in Haiti (Source: Inside Surgery) Inside Surgery blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3246841 Sat, 06 Feb 2010 04:51:47 +0100 3246841 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3220744&cid=t_167196_154_f&fid=35946&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.canadianmedicinenews.com%2F2010%2F01%2Fhow-canadian-doctors-can-volunteer-to.html This article was originally published by Doctor's Review magazine. Click here to read more from Doctor's Review about medical volunteering.Photo: United Nations Development Programme Get Canadian Medicine news by email or in an RSS reader (Source: Canadian Medicine) Canadian Medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3220744 Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:00:00 +0100 3220744 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3200676&cid=t_167196_154_f&fid=35946&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.canadianmedicinenews.com%2F2010%2F01%2Fcanadian-doctors-pitch-in-to-tend-to.html In addition to the important, high-profile contributions by Canadian physicians and staff working in Haiti with the Canadian Forces and major aid organizations like Médecins sans frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and the Red Cross, there have been other, less-heralded efforts by Canadian physicians.Soon after the devastating earthquake hit, Health Partners International of Canada solicited pharmaceutical companies to donate medicine for 100 Physician Travel Packs to help doctors treat patients in Haiti. Many more shipments of drugs have been shipped since, including several sent along with a team of Haitian-Canadian doctors who left Montreal last Thursday to go help. [HPIC's Haiti Response]Dr Tiffany Keenan, an emergency physician from Miramichi, New Brunswick who now lives in Bermuda... Canadian Medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3200676 Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:00:00 +0100 3200676 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3185581&cid=t_167196_136_f&fid=37852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdonnatrussell.com%2F2010%2F01%2F19%2Fred-cross-whats-not-to-love%2F New cartoon by Trussell & Trussell on AOL’s Politics Daily. Red Cross: What’s Not to Love? Posted in Politics Daily Tagged: chaos theory, charity navigator, doctors without borders, haiti, nonprofit, partners in health, political cartoon (Source: Donna Trussell) Donna Trussell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3185581 Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:34:38 +0100 3185581 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3178958&cid=t_167196_136_f&fid=37852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdonnatrussell.com%2F2010%2F01%2F15%2Fthink-before-you-plunk-which-charity-will-use-your-haiti-donation-wisely%2F My new post on Politics Daily / Woman Up: Haiti earthquake survivors Compassion for the victims of Tuesday’s earthquake outside of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, has prompted caring people to donate. I had planned to write a quick post discouraging donations to big, bloated, bureaucratic charities with overpaid CEOs and marketing budgets more appropriate for multinational oil companies than nonprofits. But I soon realized that by the time I separated rumors from facts and scandals from smear campaigns, Haiti would be fully rebuilt and I would be serving out my dotage in the Sarah Daft Home. So I’ll just suggest as a caution that readers check out Caroline Preston’s 2007 post on philanthropy.com, “What the Red Cross Scandal Says About All Charities,” in which she quot... Donna Trussell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3178958 Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:23:09 +0100 3178958 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3175938&cid=t_167196_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F01%2F15%2Ftwitter-falsehoods-fly-after-haiti-tragedy%2F Demonstrating the intrinsic nature of twitter as a stream of group consciousness more than anything else, the Haiti tragedy has brought out the rumor mill. And with it, it demonstrates one of the underlying weaknesses of relying on a group stream of consciousness — it’s not always the most accurate thing in the world. The rumors were, thankfully, limited to things that didn’t cause any real harm or damage. Except to the companies who were the subject of the rumors. Their reputations were inadvertently tarnished by being included in the rumors, which they then had to publicly deny. The denial makes them seem a little heartless, so they followup with a public declaration of what they are doing to support the Haitians in their time of need (usually generous monetary donation... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3175938 Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:52:56 +0100 3175938 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3082420&cid=t_167196_105_f&fid=36987&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FIvorKovicMd%2F%7E3%2FvzElwuSoeIE%2F Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international medical humanitarian organization created by doctors and journalists in France in 1971. Today, MSF provides aid in more than 60 countries to people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe, primarily due to armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, exclusion from health care, or natural disasters. Thanks to Mark Hopkins, the director of Living in Emergency documentary, and his crew you have a chance to see what work for Doctors Without Borders really looks like in the field. Living in Emergency was filmed in war zones of Libera and Congo with unprecedented access to field operations. The story follows four volunteer doctors as they struggle to provide emergency medical care under extreme c... Ivor Kovic, M.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3082420 Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:59:32 +0100 3082420 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3079578&cid=t_167196_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FGVzxrPzQxOI%2F At a Doctors Without Borders clinic in Khayelitsha, South Africa, patients are now resistant to the first-line regimen of HIV drugs, a generic combo based on the old drug D4T, which is barely used in the US or Europe because they have serious side effects and must be taken multiple times a day. But they cost less than $100 per patient per year, writes Forbes. By contrast, Truvada, the world’s bestselling HIV pill, costs $12,000 annually in the US. Gilead sells Truvada to poor nations for $315 a year, a price at which it makes no profit but which DWB can’t afford. Generic-drug makers to which Gilead has licensed its patent will sell aid workers a similar pill for $120 a year, but that’s still unaffordable, the mag writes. So DWB and Unitaid, a drug-purchasing agency in Gen... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3079578 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:55:58 +0100 3079578 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3056904&cid=t_167196_154_f&fid=35946&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.canadianmedicinenews.com%2F2009%2F12%2Fgive-up-your-holiday-gifts-for-overseas.html Two medical aid agencies -- the local branch of Médecins sans frontières (MSF) and Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief (CPAR) -- are both encouraging Canadians to ask their friends and family to donate to humanitarian aid rather than give them gifts this holiday season.More information on MSF's initiative is available here, and more information on CPAR's is here.Worthwhile Canadian initiatives both, but there's one problem: telling your friends and relatives that you'd rather help malnourished children than get a new food processor is indisputably admirable. That's not the problem. The problem is that it's so admirable it's likely to make your friends and family feel guilty they're not doing the same thing. After all, they can't very well donate money to the charity of your choice and... Canadian Medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3056904 Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:00:00 +0100 3056904 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2452342&cid=t_167196_86_f&fid=34445&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomenshealthnews.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F06%2F03%2Fsilence-is-the-enemy%2F A couple of bloggers are spearheading an effort to raise awareness of the use of mass rape as a weapon as well as funds for Doctors Without Borders, which works with many of the victims of these crimes. Sheril at Discover’s The Intersection and Dr. Isis at ScienceBlogs’s On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess are apparently coordinating the campaign, inspired by Nicholas Kristoff’s recent piece in the New York Times, After Wars, Mass Rapes Persist – a piece which focuses largely on mass rape in Liberia, where “An International Rescue Committee survey in 2007 found that about 12 percent of girls aged 17 and under acknowledged having been sexually abused in some way in the previous 18 months…Of the 275 new sexual violence cases treated between Janu... Women's Health News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2452342 Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:45:42 +0100 2452342 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2349750&cid=t_167196_154_f&fid=35946&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcanadianmedicine.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F04%2Fsix-months-in-sudan.html Canadian Medicine is pleased to republish the first chapter of Dr James Maskalyk's new book, Six Months in Sudan, about the time he spent working for Doctors Without Borders in Abyei.the end.I decided that this book should start at the end. It is the place I am trying most to understand.This is it. I am standing in a field watching sparks from a huge bonfire float so high on hot drafts of air that they become stars. It is autumn in upstate New York, and the night is dark and cool. Wedding guests huddle together, white blankets loose over their shoulders. They murmur, point at the fire, then at the sparks.I am standing by myself, swirling warming wine. A man to whom I had been introduced that night, a friend of the bride, rekindles our conversation. He is talking about an acquaintance, a nu... Canadian Medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2349750 Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:00:00 +0100 2349750 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2341975&cid=t_167196_154_f&fid=35946&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcanadianmedicine.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F04%2Ftoronto-doctors-six-months-in-sudan.html Emergency physician James Maskalyk's new book Six Months in Sudan, about his work with Doctors Without Borders, hits shelves tomorrow. The book began as a blog Dr Maskalyk (right) wrote during his tour of duty in Abyei, on the volatile border of Sudan and southern Sudan.On Monday Canadian Medicine will give you a chance to preview a chapter of the book.In the meantime, you can read a Q&A with Dr Maskalyk in The Globe and Mail.You wrote about a colleague who said your first mission with MSF would 'ruin' you. What did he mean?It's tough to go back to your regular life and not have that place inside of you, in some way. You're always choosing not to go back.So, are you ruined?I don't think so. I'm pulled back there, in a way. That's always going to be a part of who I am. And there's nothi... Canadian Medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2341975 Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:28:00 +0100 2341975 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2086918&cid=t_167196_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthbolt.net%2F2009%2F01%2F07%2Fdoctors-without-bordersmedecins-sans-frontieres-2008-list-of-top-ten-humanitarian-crisis%2F Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the international medical humanitarian organization, has been providing an annual list of the “Top Ten” humanitarian crises since 1998 in an effort to generate greater awareness of the magnitude and severity of crises that may or may not be reflected in media accounts.   In a year where most of the media has been focusing on the American elections, these are the ten Most unreported humantiarian stories of 2008…   Somalia’s Humanitarian Catastrophe Worsens Beyond the International Spotlight, Critical Health Needs in Myanmar Remain Unmet Health Crisis Sweeps Zimbabwe as Violence and Economic Collapse Spread Civilians Trapped as War Rages in Eastern Congo Millions of Malnourished Children Left Untreated Despi... Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2086918 Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:46:25 +0100 2086918 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1188555&cid=t_167196_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2008%2F1%2F30%2Fplumpynut.html Brian Klepper The NY Times has an important op-ed today by Susan Shepherd, a pediatrician and medical advisor to Doctors Without Borders. The core of her message is that as the farm bill progresses through Congress, we should focus not only on the quantity of food that is produced and that we export for relief to underdeveloped nations, but on its quality as well. Dr. Shepherd describes the difficulties in treating children who are victims of severe malnutrition, particularly in areas like Africa and South Asia where milk and clean water can be scarce. The US and other international donors current supply fortified blended flours for moderately malnourished children. Much better and more accessible nutrition is available through a ready-to-use food called Plumpy'nut (or Plumpy). But Plumpy ... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1188555 Wed, 30 Jan 2008 11:49:00 +0100 1188555