Between humanitarian crises and medical emergencies: all the latest news

Serbia
Alarming levels of violence at the Hungary-Serbia border
Testimonies from patients and corroborating medical data from the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) indicate an alarming and repeated use of violence, allegedly committed by Hungarian authorities, against people crossing the border between Serbia and Hungary. Beatings with belts and batons, kicking, punching, various forms of humiliation, use of pepper spray and teargas are all reported to be common deterrence practices, prior to pushbacks and denial of assistance.

Tuberculosis : clinical trial advancing treatment reaches critical milestone
This World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, the endTB-Q clinical trial marks a critical milestone as the final patient enrolls in the study. This first-of-its-kind clinical trial seeks to radically improve treatment for a strain of TB that is resistant to the most important standard medications, known as pre-extensively resistant (pre-XDR) TB.

Ukraine
Between enemy lines: the destruction of healthcare in Ukraine
To date, MSF teams have only been allowed entry into regions controlled by Ukrainian forces, which means they have witnessed the destruction caused by the war in Ukrainian-held territory only. Despite MSF's efforts to obtain permission to access regions under Russian occupation, this access has not been granted; MSF has therefore been unable to observe the situation in areas under Russian military control.

Syria
Surviving among the rubble: Syria and Türkiye one month on
After the initial earthquakes that struck south Türkiye and northwest Syria, the region has registered hundreds of aftershocks, adding to the death toll, material damage and trauma of the survivors.

Overcoming taboos for women’s positive sexual health
Good sexual and reproductive health is important for quality of life for all people, yet there are myriad challenges to ensuring this for cis-gender and transgender women and girls around the world.

Haiti
Haiti: MSF activities under threat after series of security incidents
Recent incidents involving Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams and activities in Port-au-Prince, as well as serious threats circulating on social networks, are jeopardizing the safety of MSF staff and patients treated in its facilities, and its ability to provide care in Haiti.

Italy
Italy: MSF providing support to survivors of the Crotone shipwreck
A team from Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is offering psychological support to the survivors of a shipwreck that killed at least 62 people, including 12 children, a few hundred meters from Steccato di Cutro, southern Italy, on 26 February. About 180 people, mostly from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, were travelling on a wooden fishing boat that had left Türkiye four to five days earlier.

Syria
Aisha is an MSF midwife supervisor from Azaz in northern Syria
Aisha is an MSF midwife in Azar, northern Syria. She recalls the first hours after the earthquake on 7 February. Her testimony tells of her commitment to saving lives but also of the fear and horror experienced by all those affected.

Syria
Syria: "Hospitals were full of wounded and dead"
In Northwest Syria, a largely landlocked region, MSF teams present on the ground deployed an emergency plan as of February 6. The objective: to support hospitals and provide medical and material aid to populations, by mobilizing a large part of the 500 members of its staff active in the country.

Syria
Overwhelming needs as earthquakes hit south Türkiye and northwest Syria
Following the powerful earthquakes that hit the south of Türkiye and northwest Syria on February 6th, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), already supporting the population of northwest Syria, has mobilized its team along with local partners to respond to the increasing needs in the area.