The Democratic Republic of Congo is in the grips of the biggest currently active outbreak of measles in the world. The outbreak has affected all of DRC's 26 provinces; MSF teams are currently responding in Kongo Central. Project Update - 31 Jan 2020

Central American migration

Despite kidnapping and continued risks, migrants continue journey north through Mexico

A group of young Hondurans who were kidnapped and physically and sexually assaulted in Tenosique, Mexico, by a criminal group, have chosen to continue on their journey north towards the US, despite the further risks of assault. Project Update - 30 Jan 2020

MSF is responding to the needs of people affected by the punitive and ever-changing immigration policies of the U.S. and Mexico on the countries' border. People fleeing violence and poverty, most from countries of the Northern Triangle of Central America, but also from other parts of the world, are taking shelter in Matamoros, just across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the U.S. Some 2,000 people—men, women and children—are living in tents by the international bridge. They receive few services and are largely reliant on volunteers from the U.S. and Mexico that bring food, clean water and clothing. At the bridge encampment, and at shelters in the area, MSF is providing mental health and social services, as well as medical care. Most people at the border are waiting for asylum court hearings across the bridge. Most wait for months; some have recently received court dates a year from now. Matamoros, like other Mexican cities along the border, is not a safe place for migrants and asylum seekers. When they arrive in these cities with nowhere to go and no protection, they become prey for organized crime. Many have been kidnapped and extorted, and have been victims of sexual violence. A lot of these people have also experienced violence along the route north through Mexico.

Central American migration

The devastating toll of 'Remain in Mexico' asylum policy one year later

The cruel and inhumane Remain in Mexico policy - which pushes asylum seekers back into Mexico from the US - has been in place for a year and continues to endanger the lives of vulnerable people. Press Release - 29 Jan 2020

“My son, Mohammed, is almost 3 years old and is suffering from brain disorders. Due to the disease he is having contant headaches and he doesn’t talk much… we try to make him talk but whenever he tries he mumbles. At the moment we live in a tent in the olive grove without electivity and heating. The toilets and the showers are far and there is no warm for bathing him so I only wash him once every two weeks. The doctor suggest us to keep good hygiene but it’s impossible. We try to keep our tent clean but when it rains there is everywhere mud. As a mother, I don’t even care about myself, I only care about my children. When Mohammed complains about the headaches he has due to the disease I know I can do nothing to help him, I only cry. We are here 3,5 months and all the doctors who saw Mohammed here say that he really need to be transferred to mainland in order to receive care for his disease but are still here in Moria”. *Gul, from Afghanistan, mother of 2 living in the Olive Groove in Moria.
At the moment there are more than 19.000 people living in Moria camp which was initially made to host 3.000 people. For the past 4 months MSF doctors have seen at least 140 children with chronic and complex cases who have no access to medication and the specialized care they need. Some of them if they left untreated they might face life-long consequences or even death.

Greece

Greece denies healthcare to seriously ill refugee children on Lesbos

Children who are suffering from chronic and complex diseases, such as heart disease and asthma and are forced to live in unhygienic conditions in Moria camp, Greece, with no appropriate health care and medication. Press Release - 23 Jan 2020

“In 2020, I wish for a world where medicines are not commodities or luxuries but where everyone has fair access to treatment to stay alive and healthy. Medicines shouldn’t be a luxury. I wish for Change not Charity.”

Access to medicines

Our 2020 wishlist - five New Year's resolutions for medical care

In 2020 we want to see change in the way medicines and medical care is accessible for people and patients - not charity. Here are the five things we wish for change this year and beyond. Campaign - 22 Jan 2020

MSF Greece Director of Medical Operational Support Unit, Apostolos Veizis, holding a sign advocating for broader use of the pneumonia vaccine at a lower price

Access to medicines

Gavi must ensure more children get new, more affordable pneumonia vaccine

As vaccine funder Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, celebrates its 20th anniversary, MSF is using the occasion to call out the organisation to ensure more children are protected against deadly pneumonia with a new, more affordable, vaccine. Press Release - 21 Jan 2020

$Salwa, 11, before entering the operational theatre at Dar Salam Hospital for surgery. Salwa survived an Israeli airstrike that killed her family during the military escalation between the Israeli army and the Islamic Jihad group in the Gaza strip in November 2019. She was referred to MSF hospital with open fractures of the right foot that required debridement and two main surgical procedures to be repaired. Before her last surgical procedure, the Operating theatre (OT) team welcomed her with balloons and sons to help her overcome fear and relax. “I remember when Salwa arrived, a few days after the airstrike. It was very sad for all the team. I cried when I left the hospital. We have been taking care of Salwa like she was our daughter since then. We want to make this experience more bearable for her. We all wish she’ll be fine soon” says Mohammad Wadi, MSF Operating Theatre supervisor.$

Palestine

Deaths and broken lives, the aftermath of airstrikes in Gaza

Salwa is ten-year-old girl who is the sole survivor in her family of a recent Israeli airstrike in Gaza, Palestine. Severely injured, MSF-supported hospitals are one of the few options open to people like her to start her long recovery.
Project Update - 17 Jan 2020

162 survivors on board Ocean Viking on their its way to the port of safety in Taranto, Italy.

Mediterranean migration

Refugees trapped in Libya: Nowhere to go but the sea

Escalating conflict in Libya is leading thousands to flee. Left in limbo, caught in the crossfire of a country at war and trapped in a cycle of violence, many refugees see their only chance to escape is on unseaworthy boats across the Mediterranean. Voices from the Field - 15 Jan 2020

Syria

Afraid of the bombs: why people discuss the weather in northwestern Syria

A new military offensive in Idlib governorate, northwestern Syria, has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee, joining more than 1.5 million displaced already living in dire conditions during a cold and wet winter. Project Update - 9 Jan 2020

Expats looking at the aftermath of the earthquake in Jacmel

Haiti

Ten years after Haiti earthquake, medical care is deteriorating

A new MSF report highlights dangerous new obstacles facing healthcare providers and patients in Haiti today, 10 years after the devastating earthquake rocked the country. Press Release - 9 Jan 2020

Four mothers posing in a corridor of the Hospital in Bili. All four of them are staying in the hospital with their child, that's suffering from a severe case of malaria. Since the beginning of the project in 2016, the pediatric ward already treated more than 4.000 cases of complicated/severe form of malaria.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Independent medical humanitarian assistance

We provide medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare. Our teams are made up of tens of thousands of health professionals, logistic and administrative staff - most of them hired locally. Our actions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of independence and impartiality. We are a non-profit, self-governed, member-based organisation.

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Tackling a massive measles outbreak in DRC's Kongo Central province