Elsevier and Doctors without Borders Partner to Help Tackle Africa’s Health Challenges

The Elsevier Foundation provides a three-year $300,000 grant to MSF/Epicentre’s Niger Research Center

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, and renowned international humanitarian-aid organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), have agreed to cooperate in fighting the root causes of some of Africa’s most vexing health challenges, including diarrhea and infectious diseases, which leave millions of people dying or severely diminished every year.

Since May 2014, Epicentre has been rolling out clinical trials about a new vaccine against Rotavirus. This new vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India has multiple advantages: thermostability, cheaper price than the existing vaccines and less packaging needs. If proven safe and effective, the new vaccine could be a game changer especially for the children in Sub Saharan countries. In the Maradi region, 7700 children have been included in phase III of the clinical trials. KRISHAN Cheyenne/MSF ©

As part of the agreement, the Elsevier Foundation has awarded a $300,000 partnership grant to Epicentre’s Niger Research Center which was founded in 2009 to produce high-quality and high-impact studies aimed at transforming medical practice. The African-led research center focuses on adapted, concrete responses to diarrheal diseases, malnutrition and malaria. The three-year partnership will support the development of Epicentre’s medical and scientific staff training and mentoring and aims to boost the Center’s overall visibility through a “Scientific Day” Conference to be held in Niger.

The joint Collaboration Agreement represents a cooperative effort between four organizations: Doctors without Borders, Epicentre (Doctors without Borders’ research and training arm), the Elsevier Foundation (Elsevier’s corporate charity focused on global health and research capacity building) and Elsevier, which will provide courtesy access to products and services such as ScienceDirect, Scopus, Clinical Key, Embase and Mendeley.

Youngsuk “YS” Chi, President of the Elsevier Foundation, underscored: “Our goal is to support MSF and Epicentre’s mission to empower trained local medical staff in Africa to provide high-quality care in their home countries. This work resonates well with the Elsevier Foundation’s focus on supporting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals through the development of science, technology and medicine in Africa and across the world.”

Jérôme Oberreit, Secretary General of MSF, said: “Elsevier’s support of our work goes beyond financial support. It will allow our medical teams to have access to scientific, technical and medical information that is essential to improve the quality of humanitarian healthcare MSF provides to the most vulnerable populations in the world.”

Ron Mobed, CEO of Elsevier, said: “Both Elsevier and MSF share a commitment to advancing healthcare and research in developing and emerging markets. We hope that providing MSF and Epicentre with essential clinical tools such as ClinicalKey and ScienceDirect will equip them with the timely, accurate knowledge they need to develop treatment protocols for doctors, nurses and epidemiologists tackling epidemics, malnutrition, natural disasters and armed conflicts. In short, the work they do is so critical and we are proud to support it in any way we can.”

Read more on Elsevier Connect.

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About MSF
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural disasters and exclusion from healthcare. MSF offers assistance to people based on need, irrespective of race, religion, gender or political affiliation. Our actions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of neutrality and impartiality. Thousands of health professionals, logistical and administrative staff – most of whom are hired locally – work on programmes in some 69 countries worldwide. www.msf.org

About Epicentre
Created in 1986 by doctors from MSF, Epicentre is a nonprofit association, with a two-fold mission: research , contributing to the design and promotion of original operational medical projects in MSF intervention settings, or similar environments and training to support MSF teams in conducting operational response. Epicentre focuses on the most prevalent diseases: malaria, tuberculosis, HIV infection, children malnutrition, as well as diseases with epidemic potential: cholera, meningitis, measles, hemorrhagic fevers (yellow fever, Ebola, Marburg as well as Buruli ulcer, psychological care, sleeping sickness. Epicentre’s research departments cover clinical and epidemiological research as well as training. Epicentre has a staff of around 40-people working in Europe (Paris, Geneva and Brussels) and 450 in Africa (Uganda and Niger). www.epicentre.msf.org

About the Elsevier Foundation
The Elsevier Foundation is a corporate not-for-profit 501(c)(3), funded by Elsevier, a global provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The Elsevier Foundation provides grants to knowledge centered institutions around the world, with a sustainability focus on innovations in health information, diversity in STM, research in developing countries and technology for development. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than 100 grants worth over $6 million to non-profit organizations working in these fields. Through gift-matching, the Foundation also supports the efforts of Elsevier employees to play a positive role in their local and global communities. www.elsevierfoundation.org

About Elsevier
Elsevier is a world-leading provider of information solutions that enhance the performance of science, health, and technology professionals, empowering them to make better decisions, deliver better care, and sometimes make groundbreaking discoveries that advance the boundaries of knowledge and human progress. Elsevier provides web-based, digital solutions — among them ScienceDirect, Scopus, Research Intelligence and ClinicalKey— and publishes over 2,500 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and more than 35,000 book titles, including a number of iconic reference works. Elsevier is part of RELX Group, a world-leading provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries. www.elsevier.com

Media contact
Elisa Nelissen
Press Officer, Elsevier
+31 622 73 50 02
e.nelissen@elsevier.com

• Read the press release on Elsevier.com