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.
Accessing healthcare is a daily challenge for thousands of people in Iraq.
After years of armed conflict and instability, the health sector in Iraq is struggling to get back on its feet. Many health facilities have been destroyed and those still operating lack medical supplies and qualified health workers.
The humanitarian needs in Iraq remain extremely high. Many cities retaken from the Islamic State group are severely damaged or destroyed. Thousands of people returning home confront a desperate lack of access to medical care and other services.
We provide antenatal and postnatal care, as well as services for complicated and non-complicated deliveries, and family planning. Our hospitals in west Mosul and Tal Afar district were assisting more than 1,000 deliveries a month in early 2018. Towards the end of the year, we also started working in the refurbished hospital in Sinuni, where the maternity ward is fully operational and a paediatric inpatient department and operating theatre are scheduled to open soon.
02War-wounded
War-related trauma cases are decreasing but the security situation remains fragile. We opened a second operating theatre at our emergency field hospital in Qayyarah, northern Iraq, in March 2018. We've also provided hospitals in Erbil, Zakho and Dohuk with medical supplies for treating the wounded.
03Rehabilitation
Many trauma patients will need multiple surgeries, regular dressing changes, pain management, and physiotherapy. MSF has built a post-operative care facility in Mosul and opened a medical rehabilitation centre in Baghdad. Improving patients' post-surgical recovery processes will help prevent complications and physical and psychological impairments.
04Mental health
The psychological and emotional scars of the war are immense. That's why mental health is a key component of many of our projects in Iraq. MSF psychiatrists, psychologists and counsellors give vital care and support to people with post-traumatic stress syndrome, depression, schizophrenia and severe anxiety.
05Displaced people
According to the International Organization for Migration, over 4 million people have returned to their places of origin in Iraq since the crisis erupted in January 2014, and the number of returnees continues to surpass 100,000 a month. At the same time, more than 1.8 million people remain displaced across Iraq, often in camps or informal settlements that lack basic facilities, including healthcare, and water and sanitation. Places of return, meanwhile, are often characterised by residual insecurity, damage to property and public infrastructure, limited access to services and livelihoods, and fractured social relations.
In 2019
125,900
125,9
outpatient consultations
89,700
89,7
emergency room admissions
33,300
33,3
individual mental health consultations
Voices from the field
The need is enormous, the trauma experienced by the people here is hard to imagine.MSF nurse Vera Schmitz
MSF hands over last projects in Diyala, Iraq, after six years
Project Update13 Oct 2020
Iraq
COVID-19 outbreak in Baghdad is “very alarming”
Project Update24 Sep 2020
Iraq
Yazidi community suffers one crisis after another
Project Update9 Aug 2020
Iraq
Mosul: MSF works on dual front of COVID-19 and lifesaving medical care
Project Update5 Aug 2020
Iraq
Displaced people are extremely vulnerable to COVID-19 in Iraq
Press Release14 Jul 2020
Iraq
2019 MSF Iraq annual report
Report6 Jul 2020
Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic
MSF supports Iraqi hospitals responding to COVID-19
Project Update14 Apr 2020
Iraq
Extending a helping hand in Iraqi health facilities
Project Update14 Feb 2020
Related topics
Crisis Settings
War and conflict
Around one-quarter of our humanitarian and medical assistance is for populations caught in armed conflict.
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.
Middle East & North Africa
Syria
War has raged in Syria for the best part of a decade, killing hundreds of thousands of people, displacing millions more, and creating extreme levels of destruction and suffering.
In 2019
515,100
outpatient consultations
169,100
routine vaccinations
37,200
people admitted to hospital
Up Next
After years of armed conflict the health sector in some areas of Iraq has almost ground to a halt
