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.
Italy continues to be the main landing point for migrants and refugees coming to Europe via the Mediterranean Sea. The Italian authorities have not developed an adequate reception system to respond to their specific humanitarian needs.
We provide mental healthcare across multiple reception centres in Sicily’s Trapani province, where a team of cultural mediators and psychologists screen asylum seekers for psychological vulnerabilities and provide care to those in need.
For migrants in transit along Italy's borders with France, Switzerland, and Slovenia, we provide medical care, shelter, psychological care, food and other essential items.
In Rome, in collaboration with Italian NGOs Medici Contro la Tortura (Doctors against Torture) and Association for Law Studies on Migration (ASGI), we run a rehabilitation centre for torture survivors.
Survivors are treated using a range of approaches, including medical and psychological care, and physiotherapy.
In 2018
2,760
2,76
individual mental health consultations
54
54
group mental health sessions
1,490
1,49
outpatient consultations
1999
1999
Year MSF first worked in the country
Italy
MSF claims sanitary conditions in Lampedusa, Italy, below humanitarian standards
Statement1 Apr 2011
War and conflict
Support to health facilities in the Middle East and North Africa
Project Update23 Mar 2011
Sexual violence
MSF denounces the sexual violence against migrants travelling to Europe
Report25 Mar 2010
Italy
Violence in southern Italy exposes extreme neglect and exploitation of seasonal migrant workers
Press Release12 Jan 2010
Project Update
MSF urges European governments to respect life, dignity and healthcare of migrants and asylum seekers
Press Release16 Dec 2009
Libya
MSF fears for migrants forced back to Libya
Press Release19 Nov 2009
Italy
MSF assists the five survivors - 73 feared dead - of boat tragedy in Lampedusa, Italy
Project Update25 Aug 2009
Malta
One refugee describes his attempts to find a better life
Voices from the Field13 Jul 2009
Italy
MSF activities resume in Lampedusa, Italy
Project Update28 Apr 2009
Related topics
In Focus
Mediterranean migration
Every year, thousands of people fleeing war, persecution and poverty at home attempt the treacherous journey across the Mediterranean. Countless lives are lost on the way.
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.
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.
