Catalyst for change: Lessons learned from overcoming barriers to providing safe abortion care in Médecins Sans Frontières projects.

Context: Despite instituting a policy in 2004, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) continuously struggled to routinely provide safe abortion care (SAC). In 2016, the organization launched an initiative aimed at increasing availability of SAC in MSF projects and increasing understanding of abortion-related dynamics in humanitarian settings.

Methodology: From March 2017 to April 2018, MSF staff conducted support visits to 10 projects in a country in sub-Saharan Africa.

Risk of death among those awaiting treatment for HIV infection in Zimbabwe: adolescents are at particular risk.

Introduction: Mortality among HIV-positive adults awaiting antiretroviral therapy (ART) has previously been found to be high. Here, we compare adolescent pre-ART mortality to that of adults in a public sector HIV care programme in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we compared adolescent pre-ART outcomes with those of adults enrolled for HIV care in the same clinic.

Mother to Mother (M2M) peer support for women in Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) programmes: a qualitative study.

Introduction: Mother-to-Mother (M2M) or "Mentor Mother" programmes utilise HIV positive mothers to provide support and advice to HIV positive pregnant women and mothers of HIV exposed babies. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) supported a Mentor Mother programme in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe from 2009 to 2012; with programme beneficiaries observed to have far higher retention at 6-8 weeks (99% vs 50%, p<0.0005) and to have higher adherence to Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) guidelines, compared to those not opting in.