The fear that follows them. Providing mental healthcare for refugees

“Through our sessions, MSF psychologists listen and try to normalise the reactions of the refugees,” explains Aurelia Morabito, a psychologist who has been working for MSF in Lake Chad for the last two months. “We know that we cannot make the suffering go away, but we can help people to deal better with their unbearable reactions.” From the beginning of its response to this crisis in Chad in March this year, MSF saw an immediate need to incorporate psychological care into its medical activities. Project Update - 27 Aug 2015

Intensive Care training, Al Shifa hospital, Gaza. The objective of the "Intensive Care" project is to support and train Gazaoui medical staff to treat patients in intensive care situations. *** Local Caption *** The blockade, set up when Hamas came to power in Gaza in June 2007, imposes tight restrictions on people’s movements and access to goods. In addition to its economic impact, with the rise in unemployment and poverty, the blockade also affects the health sector.

. In January 2011, following a series of assessments implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Health, MSF decided to set up an intensive care programme with several facets.
Although the medical system in Gaza is functional, the support and training that medical staff need to treat patients in intensive care situations has now become an issue that MSF wishes to tackle.

In addition to the training courses for Gazan doctors offered at the Al Shifa hospital, MSF will be sending specialist medical equipment technicians to the Nasser de Khan Younis hospital in southern Gaza. They will provide the hospital with technical support so that it can optimise its use of intensive care equipment. An MSF nurse has been giving staff at the Nasser hospital intensive care training since March 2013, using a bedside teaching approach. MSF also plans to develop its intensive care support programme by offering physiotherapy training in the near future.

Palestine

Delivering training to healthcare workers stuck in Gaza

“The nurses were really enthusiastic, they were very grateful to have the opportunity to develop their intensive care skills," says Rochelle DeLacey, an MSF intensive care nurse working in Gaza." Their only other option really was to Google ‘intensive care’ because they don’t have any other access to training.” Voices from the Field - 26 Aug 2015

South Sudan

Two MSF aid workers killed as fighting continues in Unity state

"The situation is desperate. Ongoing attacks, killings and sexual violence against civilians by any armed actor in Unity state must stop,” says Tara Newell, MSF's Emergency Manager. “People displaced from their homes and villages should be able to move safely to seek assistance, wherever it is being provided.” Press Release - 25 Aug 2015

Burundi

“We treat anyone who is injured, whatever their politics.”

"Wounded patients often fear for their safety in medical facilities, so it is essential to create a place of sanctuary for them, where there is no discrimination," says Bruno Duchenne, MSF Head of Mission in Burundi. "We treat anyone who is injured, whatever their politics." Voices from the Field - 25 Aug 2015

Syria

MSF treats patients with symptoms of exposure to chemical agents

"The patients’ clinical symptoms, the way these symptoms changed over time, and the patients’ testimony about the circumstances of the poisoning all point to exposure to a chemical agent,” Pablo Marco, MSF’s programme manager in Syria. Press Release - 25 Aug 2015

Yemen

At least 65 civilians killed in coalition airstrikes and heavy fighting in Taiz

“At least 65 civilians in the province of Taiz, Yemen have been killed in Saudi led air strikes today, including 17 people from one family,” says Salah Dongu’du, MSF's Project Coordinator, about the current situation in Taiz, Yemen. “The deaths occurred when the strikes hit civilian homes in the area. Those who survived the bombings are searching through the rubble with their bare hands in the hope of finding survivors, as well as the bodies of victims of the attack. Many others are believed to have been injured or killed in the past week in air strikes, shelling and fighting in densely populated areas." Statement - 21 Aug 2015

South Sudan

Dramatic influx of displaced people threatens medical crisis at PoC camp

“Many people arriving in the Malakal camp have been displaced for weeks or months already with extremely limited access to food and medical care,” says Victor Escobar, MSF project Coordinator in Malakal. “These already-vulnerable people urgently need a sanitary space to live and access to medical care. Otherwise, their health will continue to suffer.” Project Update - 21 Aug 2015

MSF water distribution in Minawao/Gawar camp.

Cameroon

Tens of thousands flee Boko Haram violence

Tens of thousands of people in northern Cameroon are in need of humanitarian aid after fleeing attacks by Boko Haram in neighbouring Nigeria.“Boko Haram burned our house and took all our cows and belongings,” says Samuel, from Nigeria. “They kidnapped my wife and two of my children and held them in one of their jails. My wife managed to escape and is trying to join me in Minawao, but I don’t have any news of my children. I don’t even know if they are still alive.” Project Update - 20 Aug 2015

Situated in the Lake Chad region, the site of Koulkimé in Chad hosts approximately 1,800 displaced people according to OCHA. They have fled Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP), also known as Boko Haram, as well as military operations carried out by the Chadian government. MSF is working together with the Chadian Ministry of Health to support the primary health centre in Koulkimé.

Lake Chad Crisis

Lake Chad: Populations fleeing Boko Haram violence

Since May 2013, violent insurgencies by Boko Haram have led to widespread displacement and an escalating humanitarian crisis in the Lake Chad region. According to UNHCR figures, nearly 1.4 million people have been internally displaced in northeast Nigeria alone, and approximately 170,000 people have fled to neighbouring Cameroon (56,000), Chad (14,000) and Niger (100,000). At least 1,300 people have died so far this year. Crisis Update - 20 Aug 2015

Project Update

A month in focus: August 2015

Ebola: a hope-bringing vaccine; Lebanon: Lives ruined by the conflict; Tanzania: Cholera, a new threat to Burundian refugees; Malawi: In the over-populated prisons; Antivenom serums: In worrying shortage; Yemen: "You come and do the work!".

Project Update - 17 Aug 2015

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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