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The influx of these extremely vulnerable internally displaced people (IDPs) has exacerbated existing inequalities in Katasomwa, in the Kalehe Territory of South Kivu, in the eastern side of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Tensions between communities are materializing in the form of difficulty in accessing food resources and education, particularly for the displaced and local nomadic Pygmy communities.
Democratic Republic of Congo

South Kivu: An endless flight

Unrest in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has forced thousands to flee their homes. Many are in remote and under-resourced areas of South Kivu. Project Update - 28 Jan 2021
 
After being relatively spared by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Malawi is now being swept by a new, fast-spreading wave of the disease that is quickly overwhelming the health care system. In the first few weeks of January, the number of positive cases has doubled every four to five days and access to vaccines is still likely months away. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is launching an emergency intervention to support the local health authorities to treat the growing number of severe patients hospitalized the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre.
Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic

Malawi is overwhelmed by second wave of COVID-19

Faced by an increase in the number of people with the more contagious South Africa strain of coronavirus COVID-19, MSF teams are assisting an overwhelmed health system in Malawi. Interview - 27 Jan 2021
 
Kala azar sufferer Ruai Puot Malow (56 years) is assisted by his wife Yakuony Jock Deng (right) and a relative at a Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders hospital in Lankien, South Sudan, Tuesday, 13 Jan 2015.  Ruai was brought to the hospital by relatives who carried him for five hours through the bush to the MSF hospital after he suffered yet another outbreak of the disease. The conflict that erupted in South Sudan little more than a year ago has left people more vulnerable to a deadly tropical disease known as kala azar (visceral leishmaniasis). The risk of infection increases as people are displaced by fighting into areas where the disease is prevalent and malnutrition lowers their ability to fight the infection. With many health facilities not functioning in conflict areas, getting treatment is more difficult. Last year, MSF treated over 6,700 cases of kala azar in South Sudan, more than double the number of cases it treated the year before (2714 cases treated in 2013). The majority of people treated were in Lankien, a dusty settlement in the conflict affected state of Jonglei. Kala azar is a tropical, parasitic disease transmitted through bites from certain types of sand fly. It is endemic in 76 countries, and of the estimated 250,000–300,000 annual cases, 90 per cent occur in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, South Sudan, Sudan and Brazil. Kala azar is characterised by fever, weight loss, enlargement of the liver and spleen, anaemia and immune-system deficiencies. Without treatment in a place like South Sudan, kala azar is always fatal. Photo/Karel Prinsloo for MSF
Neglected diseases

No more neglected diseases, no more neglected patients

As we release a new report on neglected tropical diseases, International President Dr Christos Christou urges countries not to reverse the gains made on eliminating them. Press Release - 27 Jan 2021
 
Following post-election violence, about 8,000 persons have their homes and took shelter in makeshift camps in Bouar, Central African Republic, on January 2021.
Central African Republic

Displaced people in Bouar living amid fear and growing needs

People in Bouar, in western Central African Republic (CAR), have been living in fear since an uptick in violence, forcing many to become displaced to areas that lack sanitation and access to healthcare. Project Update - 26 Jan 2021
 
MSF mobile clinic staff runs blood tests to diagnose sleeping sickness in the village of Emmaus, northeast DRC.
Neglected diseases

Overcoming neglect: Finding ways to manage and control NTDs

MSF's latest report on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), Overcoming neglect, highlights persistent gaps and problems in treating NTDs in the areas we work. Report - 26 Jan 2021
 
MSF’s Mental Health Supervisor is checking on patients who are visiting our Kutupalong facility to have mental health support.
Rohingya refugee crisis

Relocations, reduced services leave Rohingya communities at breaking point in Bangladesh

Unable to work, Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, rely on aid for survival; but services have been scaled back due to COVID-19, and with many being relocated, leaving people anxious and stressed. Project Update - 21 Jan 2021
 
Patient is carried to the ambulance shortly after the start of a heavy rain in Tefé. She will go to the airport and from there to the state capital, Manaus, where there are more resources for her treatment of COVID-19. 

The transfer of this patient took place in late December 2020, before the health system in Manaus collapsed for the second time and referrals to the state capital were interrupted.
Brazil

COVID-19 leaves Amazonas health system saturated, overloaded and struggling

Coronavirus COVID-19 has caused the health system in Manaus, the capital of Brazil's Amazonas state, to collapse, forcing city hospitals to stop receiving serious patients from other towns. Project Update - 21 Jan 2021
 
Women from Riang, Jonglei state, carry items that MSF will distribute to local families. Hiring only women as porters is a way to support the most vulnerable people in the community.
South Sudan

Falling international funding exposes communities in Jonglei to a lack of healthcare

After a succession of floods and violence in the area, people in South Sudan's Jonglei state are vulnerable to a lack of access to medical care - made worse by falling levels of funding from international donors. Project Update - 19 Jan 2021
 
MSF Supported COVID19 Treatment Center at Al Kuwait Hospital in Sanaa
Yemen

Yemen: “These sanctions have to make clear that they do not apply to humanitarian aid”

As the United States prepares to designate Ansar Allah a 'foreign terrorist organisation' in Yemen, there are concerns about the impact on providing assistance in the country. Interview - 18 Jan 2021
 
MSF installed one 30- and two 15-cubic meter water tankers to provide water purification in Ndu, northern DRC, where thousands of people from the Central African Republic sought refuge due to a non-state armed group attack on Bangassou on January 3rd. According to some estimates, over 12,000 refugees arrived in Ndu in just a few days.
Central African Republic

MSF teams ramp up support as violence escalates

As the security and humanitarian situation in Central African Republic rapidly deteriorates, people have reduced access to essential medical services. Project Update - 14 Jan 2021
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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