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What we do

War in Gaza:: find out how we're responding
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Médecins Sans Frontières brings medical humanitarian assistance to victims of conflict, natural disasters, epidemics or healthcare exclusion.

We treat patients suffering from a wide array of illnesses and health needs. Here you will find some of the main needs we see and what we do about them.

Discover the main crises we work in, the consequences faced by affected people and challenges in delivering care.

 
Mental Healthcare in Mweso
Medical Activities

Mental health

Where we work, we may see people with a mental illness or confronting distressing situations, such as violence, loss or displacement. Mental health support can be crucial to help people cope.
 
Philippines: responding to Typhoon Tembin
Crisis Settings

Natural disasters

Within a matter of minutes, natural disasters can affect the lives of tens of thousands of people. Hundreds or even thousands of people can be injured, homes and livelihoods destroyed. Access to clean water, healthcare services and transport can also be disrupted. The impact of each disaster varies greatly and our response must adapt to each situation.
 
Kala Azar: fighting a neglected disease in remote India
Medical Activities

Neglected diseases

MSF teams treat a number of neglected diseases, including noma, Chagas, cutaneous leishmaniasis, in projects across the world.
 
Sameer Rawashdeh
Medical Activities

Non-communicable diseases

Non-communicable diseases are not transmitted from one person to another. One could cite the cardiovascular diseases (cardiovascular or cerebrovascular accidents), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma) and diabetes.
 
Refugees in Bosnia
Crisis Settings

Refugees, IDPs and people on the move

There are many reasons for flight, including war, persecution, conflict, natural disaster, destitution and repression. With health and well-being jeopardised, the lives of the most vulnerable can be at risk.
 
Patient Portraits
In Focus

Rohingya refugee crisis

Legally stateless, with very limited options or rights in any country where they have sought refuge, the Rohingya are extremely vulnerable.
 
Drugs used for Termination of Pregnancy
Medical Activities

Safe abortion care

MSF is committed to providing safe abortion care to reduce avoidable suffering and deaths. Every minute, a woman or girl has an unsafe abortion. .
 
Don't Excuse Abuse
Medical Activities

Sexual violence

Sexual violence affects millions of people, brutally shattering the lives of women, men and children. It is a medical emergency, but there is often a dire lack of healthcare services for victims.
 
Fatal Neglect Sleeping Sickness
Medical Activities

Sleeping sickness

Sleeping sickness, or human African trypanosomiasis, is a neglected tropical disease. It is a potentially fatal parasitic infection which attacks the body’s central nervous system, causing severe neurological conditions.
 
Snakebites in Paoua
Medical Activities

Snakebite

Snakebite is a hidden health crisis. Every year, an estimated 2.7 million people are bitten by venomous snakes, resulting in death for more than 100,000 people and life-long disfigurement and disability for 400,000 more.​
 
Malawi Prisons - Chichiri and Maula
Crisis Settings

Social violence and exclusion

Many people are unable to access healthcare simply because of who they are. They may be afraid to seek help, or are excluded because they are forced to live outside of mainstream societal bounds.
 
Influx of wounded patients in Sica hospital in Bangui
Medical Activities

Surgery & trauma care

Médecins Sans Frontières has been providing surgical care for people in precarious contexts for decades.
 
Osh project, fighting TB
Medical Activities

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the world’s biggest global health crises. Killing 1.3 million people in 2022 TB is the world’s second deadliest infectious disease after COVID-19 (WHO).
 
20230206 Earthquake, Idlib, Northwestern Syria
In Focus

Türkiye and Syria earthquake response

Find out the latest information on the emergency earthquake response in Türkiye/Syria.
 
CAR - Slideshow: Multi-antigenes Vaccination campaign - 04
Medical Activities

Vaccination

MSF teams vaccinate millions of people every year, either as part of routine vaccination, or in response to an outbreak of disease.
 
Gaza protest
Crisis Settings

War and conflict

More than one third of our humanitarian and medical assistance is for people affected by armed conflict.
 
Damaged buildings in Chernihiv
In Focus

War in Ukraine

The war in Ukraine has caused the displacement of millions of people as well as severe medical and humanitarian needs. MSF teams are responding to the conflict across Ukraine and in neighbouring countries.
 
Mobile Clinics in Akobo and Kier : providing access to basic healthcare in remote areas
Medical Activities

Women's health

An estimated 99 per cent of women who die in childbirth or from pregnancy-related complications live in developing countries. Most of these deaths are preventable.
 
Yellow Fever Vaccination Campaign in Kinshasa
Medical Activities

Yellow fever

Yellow fever can be prevented with a vaccine, yet it's a disease that claims the lives of an estimated 30,000 - 60,000 people each year.
Cholera intervention in South Kivu
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Independent medical humanitarian assistance

We provide medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare. Our teams are made up of tens of thousands of health professionals, logistic and administrative staff - most of them hired locally. Our actions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of independence and impartiality. We are a non-profit, self-governed, member-based organisation.

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