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.
Since 2015, thousands of people in the Lake Chad region have been forced to flee their homes as a result of violent clashes between armed groups and Chadian military forces.
Between 2015 and 2018, we ran mobile clinics in the areas around Baga Sola, Bol, Liwa and Kiskawa to provide basic healthcare and mental health support to displaced people and the local population. Most of the medical conditions we treated were linked to the precarious living conditions and poor sanitation.
We also supported the health centre in Tchoukoutalia and offer mental healthcare to Nigerian refugees in Dar es Salaam camp.
We are still present in the east and south of Chad, and have an emergency response unit (CERU) capable of delivering medical care in under 72 hours.
In 2019
352,500
352,5
vaccinations against measles in response to an outbreak
154,800
154,8
outpatient consultations
109,900
109,9
malaria cases treated
Voices from the field
I looked after her for seven days at home but after that knew I had to get her to a clinic.Zara Abba visited MSF intensive care unit in Bokoro with her granddaughter.
How to identify the causes of an epidemic and respond strategically
Interview21 Aug 2019
Chad
Measles epidemic declared in May 2018, still not under control one year on
Project Update8 May 2019
Chad
MSF hands over medical programmes in Am Timan
Project Update20 Nov 2018
Chad
Treating severely malnourished children in N’Djamena
Project Update10 Aug 2018
Lake Chad Crisis
Fighting psychological fears in conflict-affected communities
Project Update3 Aug 2018
Related topics
In Focus
Lake Chad Crisis
Armed conflict has forced over 2.5 million people to flee their homes across the Lake Chad Basin. Violence and multiple forced displacement have destroyed what ability people had to support themselves, with many dependent on humanitarian assistance.
Medical Activities
Measles
In 2019, our teams vaccinated over 1.3 million people against measles in response to outbreaks, and conducted over 2.2 million routine vaccinations. But the highly contagious viral disease remains one of the leading killers of young children.
Medical Activities
Malnutrition
More than 224 million children around the world last year suffered from malnutrition. It is the underlying contributing factor in nearly half of the deaths of children under five years of age.
