In more than 70 countries, Médecins Sans Frontières provides medical humanitarian assistance to save lives and ease the suffering of people in crisis situations.
We set up the MSF Access Campaign in 1999 to push for access to, and the development of, life-saving and life-prolonging medicines, diagnostic tests and vaccines for people in our programmes and beyond.
Based in Paris, CRASH conducts and directs studies and analysis of MSF actions. They participate in internal training sessions and assessment missions in the field.
Based in Geneva, UREPH (or Research Unit) aims to improve the way MSF projects are implemented in the field and to participate in critical thinking on humanitarian and medical action.
Based in Brussels, MSF Analysis intends to stimulate reflection and debate on humanitarian topics organised around the themes of migration, refugees, aid access, health policy and the environment in which aid operates.
This logistical and supply centre in Brussels provides storage of and delivers medical equipment, logistics and drugs for international purchases for MSF missions.
This supply and logistics centre in Bordeaux, France, provides warehousing and delivery of medical equipment, logistics and drugs for international purchases for MSF missions.
This logistical centre in Amsterdam purchases, tests, and stores equipment including vehicles, communications material, power supplies, water-processing facilities and nutritional supplements.
SAMU provides strategic, clinical and implementation support to various MSF projects with medical activities related to HIV and TB. This medical unit is based in Cape Town, South Africa.
BRAMU specialises in neglected tropical diseases, such as dengue and Chagas, and other infectious diseases. This medical unit is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Our medical guidelines are based on scientific data collected from MSF’s experiences, the World Health Organization (WHO), other renowned international medical institutions, and medical and scientific journals.
Providing epidemiological expertise to underpin our operations, conducting research and training to support our goal of providing medical aid in areas where people are affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or excluded from health care.
Evaluation Units have been established in Vienna, Stockholm, and Paris, assessing the potential and limitations of medical humanitarian action, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of our medical humanitarian work.
The Luxembourg Operational Research (LuxOR) unit coordinates field research projects and operational research training, and provides support for documentation activities and routine data collection.
The MSF Paediatric Days is an event for paediatric field staff, policy makers and academia to exchange ideas, align efforts, inspire and share frontline research to advance urgent paediatric issues of direct concern for the humanitarian field.
The MSF Foundation aims to create a fertile arena for logistics and medical knowledge-sharing to meet the needs of MSF and the humanitarian sector as a whole.
A collaborative, patients’ needs-driven, non-profit drug research and development organisation that is developing new treatments for neglected diseases, founded in 2003 by seven organisations from around the world.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya are living in Bangladesh after fleeing targeted violence in Myanmar.
The Cox’s Bazar district on Bangladesh's southeast coast has hosted Rohingya refugees fleeing targeted violence in neighbouring Myanmar's Rakhine state since 1978. The latest campaign of violence, which began in late August 2017, has provoked an unprecedented exodus.
Before August 2017, we had one project in Cox’s Bazar and one in Kamrangirchar, a slum area of the capital, Dhaka. After more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees fled violence in Myanmar from August 2017, we launched additional emergency projects.
In Cox’s Bazar, the largest refugee camp in the world, MSF manages 10 hospitals and general health centres. Our inpatient and outpatient services include emergency and intensive care, paediatrics, as well as obstetrics and sexual and reproductive healthcare. We also treat victims of sexual violence and patients with non-communicable diseases.
Water and sanitation activities are an important part of our efforts to stop the spread of disease and include water trucking and the installation of pumps, wells and latrines.
02Occupational health
We run an occupational health programme for people living in the Kamrangirchar slum area of Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka. Many of them work in small factories where they are exposed, without protection, to dangerous machinery and substances. Our teams conducted 10,500 occupational health consultations for factory workers in 2019. We also started running a new mobile health clinic for tannery workers.
03Sexual violence
Since 25 August 2017, we've treated more than a hundred survivors of sexual violence at our sexual and reproductive health unit in Kutupalong, Cox's Bazar. We also give medical and psychological support to victims of sexual violence and intimate partner violence in Kamrangirchar, a slum area in Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka.
04Reproductive healthcare
We offer reproductive healthcare to adolescent girls in Kamrangirchar. Our services include antenatal consultations and assisting deliveries. People of all ages benefit from our family planning sessions. In Cox’s Bazar, our staff assisted 2,670 births in 2019.
05Vaccinations
We're supporting government initiatives to expand routine vaccination in the camps. Staff at all our facilities now have the capacity to administer immunisation for measles and rubella, oral polio and tetanus according to national protocols.
Featured
International Activity Report 2018
The Rohingya: No country to call home
20 Jun 2019
Bangladesh
Shanti Khana: Bringing peace to Rohingya refugees
Project Update28 Sep 2018
Bangladesh
“This feels more like an emergency room than a normal delivery room”
Project Update23 May 2018
Rohingya refugee crisis
MSF surveys estimate that at least 6,700 Rohingya were killed during the attacks in Myanmar
Press Release12 Dec 2017
1985
1985
Year MSF first worked in the country
Rohingya refugee crisis
Three questions on life for the Rohingya in Bangladesh
Interview18 Mar 2021
Rohingya refugee crisis
Relocations, reduced services leave Rohingya communities at breaking point in Bangladesh
Project Update21 Jan 2021
Bangladesh
Rohingya refugees remain in limbo three years after mass exodus
Project Update25 Aug 2020
Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic
Five challenges for the Rohingya in Bangladesh amid COVID-19
Project Update6 May 2020
Rohingya refugee crisis
Rohingya refugees left to starve at sea
Voices from the Field22 Apr 2020
Measles
“These children shouldn’t be sick” – tackling measles in Rohingya refugee camps
Project Update19 Feb 2020
Bangladesh
Rohingya refugee crisis: Unseen wounds need to heal
Project Update3 Dec 2019
Rohingya refugee crisis
ASEAN should show true leadership on Rohingya, Myanmar
Op-Ed13 Sep 2019
Rohingya refugee crisis
“The collective fate of the Rohingya is in our hands”
Voices from the Field20 Aug 2019
Related topics
In Focus
Rohingya refugee crisis
Since 25 August 2017, a massive exodus of over 706,000 Rohingya people have fled Myanmar. We are urging the Myanmar government for unfettered access to Rakhine state to ensure the impartial delivery of aid to those in need.
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.
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.
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.
Asia & Pacific
Myanmar
We work with the Myanmar Ministry of Health to provide care for HIV and TB patients, primary healthcare, and vaccinations.
Up Next
As makeshift settlements swell, just accessing healthcare, shelter, food and water remains an enormous challenge
