Elsevier and Doctors Without Borders Partner to Help Tackle Africa's Health Challenges

AMSTERDAM, October 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

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.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161025/432178 )
     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161025/432177 )

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."