Innovative approaches in medical humanitarian care

Unconventional settings often require unconventional approaches, whether that’s developing new technologies and adapting existing ones, or finding new and better ways of working. Whatever the approach, the goal is always to facilitate Doctors Without Borders' work to save lives and reduce suffering. MSF innovation plays a key role in driving these efforts forward.

Innovative tools and programs

For Doctors Without Borders, innovation is in our culture. We always try to look for ways to simplify and improve our tools and processes in order to reach our patients or ensure access to medical care, despite the many challenges and the complexities in the many areas where we work. 

Diabetes

While insulin pens are the standard of care in high-income countries, current prices are unacceptably high, and supply is not always guaranteed, both significant barriers for people’s access to diabetes treatment and care in low- and middle-income countries.

Insulin pens are preferred by the majority of insulin users over insulin delivered from a glass vial and via a syringe, because insulin pens are easier and safer to use and give the correct dose, less painful, and less stigmatizing when used in public – all factors that improve quality of life and increase adherence to treatment.

There are two types of insulin in pens, human and analogue. Human insulin pens are more affordable, but pharmaceutical corporation Novo Nordisk – which produces the majority of human insulin pens – will cease its production by 2026. In response, governments must commit to supplying analogue insulin pens so that people do not have to switch to using insulin in vials with syringes.

Therefore, Doctors Without Borders calls on pharmaceutical corporations to make analogue insulin pens available and affordable in low- and middle-income countries, specifically by immediately reducing their prices.

This initiative is an example of MSF innovation improving access to essential treatment for chronic diseases.

Pediatric Tuberculosis (TB)

According to WHO, 60% of children with tuberculosis worldwide are undiagnosed. 96% of children who die with TB were not put on treatment.

In the absence of diagnostics for children, WHO-recommended decision algorithms that can help diagnose and treat more children with tuberculosis must be urgently implemented in low and middle-income countries having high prevalence of TB.

Doctors Without Borders calls for sufficient funding for countries to support the updating and implementation of pediatric tuberculosis policies. Sustained investment by the diagnostic and pharmaceutical industry and donors will help develop medical tools that can improve TB care in children.

More on Doctors Without Borders work on pediatric TB: TACTiC (https://www.msf.org/tactic-tuberculosis-children)

Women’s Cancers

As cancer represents a global public health challenge, innovations related to diagnosis and treatment should meet every patient's needs, everywhere in the world including the most vulnerable populations. For instance: Access to rapid tests to identify high-risk HPV and, more broadly, cancer diagnoses using blood tests - currently being studied - must be accessible to all.

To improve access to cancer diagnosis, prevention and treatment in resource-limited settings, it is crucial to support and fund operational research that reflects the voices and specific challenges of both patients and healthcare providers.

The current HPV vaccine covers 9 types of papillomavirus, but not the HPV35, which is particularly dangerous and highly prevalent in sub–Saharan Africa. Girls from 9 to 14 living in these countries need a new vaccine that takes them into account and all women need to access health information and efficient screening to prevent cervical cancer.

Sickle cell Disease

Hundreds of thousands of children with sickle cell disease are currently deprived of care, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and about 50% of them die within 5 years. Hydroxyurea (HU), which has been known to be effective in sickle cell disease for 20 years, is highly effective in preventing vaso-occlusive crises and has been on the WHO's list of essential medicines since 2013.

Doctors Without Borders develops access to SCD services, such as diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up in primary health care facilities, and SCD awareness and sensitization at community level, both can be replicable in other settings.

In 2024, Doctors Without Borders engaged in discussions with producers and obtained an affordable price for HU, which has led to an increase in the number of children receiving HU in our cohorts. The goal is to help bring prices down even further to ensure wider access for sick patients and advocate for long-term international funding for sickle-cell anemia patients. 

Lifelong treatment requires medical follow-up as close to the patients as possible. The development of patient-centric technologies, such as a tool enabling home monitoring and patient empowerment, would also ease the follow-up and care of thousands of sick children in remote areas.

Hypothermia in newborns

Hypothermia is a major contributor to neonatal morbidity and mortality in low- and middle-income countries. This holds true even in places with warmer climates. The standard protocol - using an incubator - is ill-suited for low-resource settings. Incubators are expensive; need reliable electricity; and require significant training to operate, keep clean and maintain.

Doctors Without Borders is drawing on our neonatal expertise and particular strengths in problem analysis to clarify the shortcomings of existing equipment and practice. Similarly, we are analysing the various contextual challenges that any alternative warming solution must also be able to handle. In this way, we will be able to identify what constitutes a realistic solution.