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.
Read through case studies where we openly examine and analyse all our actions and decision-making processes during humanitarian emergencies that have led us to speak out.
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.
Millions of people still die each year from infectious diseases that are preventable or can be treated.
Outbreaks of cholera, measles and yellow fever can spread rapidly and be fatal. Malaria is endemic in more than 100 countries. Millions are living with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. Viral hemorrhagic diseases such as Ebola or Marburg are rarer, but are potentially fatal.
The people at highest risk are mainly living in poverty or in areas of great instability, such as in armed conflict or during mass displacement, where living conditions are precarious, access to healthcare is limited, and vaccination coverage is low.
Reacting swiftly once an outbreak is identified will ensure that the number of people at risk is quickly reduced, and can significantly impact the number of people falling ill and those dying. Engaging in advocacy to support access to treatment, as in the case of HIV/AIDS and TB, is crucial in pushing for effective responses.
people admitted to Ebola treatment centres in 2018
Voices from the field
It has been a long, painful, deadly year for the people living in the Ebola-affected areas in DRC.Trish Newport, Deputy Manager of MSF's Ebola programmes (DRC)
MSF response to second Ebola outbreak in DRC since 2016
Project Update23 May 2018
Kenya
MSF responds to cholera outbreak amid heavy rains and flooding
Project Update18 May 2018
DRC Ebola outbreaks
Ninth Ebola outbreak in 40 years hits urban area
Project Update17 May 2018
Zambia
Encouraging new results further demonstrate effectiveness of the single dose oral cholera vaccine
Press Release9 Feb 2018
Bangladesh
Emergence of diphtheria worsens situation of Rohingya refugees
Project Update24 Dec 2017
Yemen
From cholera to diphtheria – shattered health system battles a new threat
Statement12 Dec 2017
Uganda
MSF ends its intervention in response to the Marburg fever outbreak
Project Update11 Dec 2017
Research & Analysis
Journal article
MSF publishes study on the accuracy of HIV rapid diagnostic tests
20 Apr 2017
Journal article
Book
Treating, Containing, Mobilizing: The Role of MSF in the West African Ebola Epidemic Response
13 Oct 2016
Book
Ebola and Marburg
MSF supported research on Ebola
Report23 Mar 2016
Tuberculosis
New survey shows outdated policies and practices risk further spread of drug-resistant TB
Report2 Dec 2015
Epidemics and pandemics
Epidemics: Neglected emergencies?
Report25 Nov 2015
Ebola and Marburg
Ebola: Pushed to the limit and beyond
Report23 Mar 2015
Tuberculosis
DR-TB drugs under the microscope
Report23 Mar 2011
Related topics
Medical Activities
Cholera
Although easy to prevent and treat, cholera affects up to 4 million people worldwide per year, resulting in up to 140,000 deaths.
Medical Activities
Ebola and Marburg
Ebola and Marburg haemorrhagic fevers are rare but deadly. Outbreaks can kill 25 to 90 per cent of those infected, spreading fear and panic. No cure exists and treatment is mainly symptomatic.
Medical Activities
HIV/AIDS
Nearly 800,000 people die each year from HIV/AIDS, while nearly 2 million people become newly infected with the virus.
Medical Activities
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the world’s biggest global health crises. Killing 1.5 million people in 2018, TB is the world’s deadliest infectious disease (WHO).
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Millions of people still die each year from infectious diseases that are preventable or that are easy to treat
