blogs.msf.org - 1 Nov 2020

A rescued man watches as the Aquarius approaches the port of Catania, Sicily for disembarkation.
On the evening of January 15 and into the morning of January 16, the Aquarius rescued over 400 people - the youngest just 2 weeks old –from 5 different boats. During the rescue of the third boat around 10 people fell into the sea. They were all recovered by the rescue team. The Italian Coast Guard coordinated a total of 11 operations in the area on the same day, with over 1,400 people.
On the evening of January 16 the Aquarius took a further 67 women and men onboard who were rescued earlier that day by a Spanish military ship. All 505 people were safely disembarked in Catania, Sicily.

Italy

“The survivors share the memory of the big wave that threw them into the water”

An MSF psychologist talks about the survivors of a recent shipwreck in the Mediterranean. They chose the risky sea crossing over certain death in Libya. Voices from the Field - 29 Oct 2020

Majd Osama, 23 years old from Syria, married and has a daughter. Majd is receiving medical care in COVID-19 treatment centre in Zaatari camp for Syrian refugees. “One day I woke up feeling feverish and I was referred to MSF COVID-19 hospital, I have been in the MSF hospital for two days, I don’t cough and I do not have a runny nose and the fever is gone. God will help me, I’m not worried.”

Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic

MSF responds as COVID-19 arrives in Jordan’s largest refugee camp

Given the often rapid spread of diseases inside refugee camps, MSF is providing medical care for coronavirus COVID-19 to refugees in Zaatari camp, Jordan. Project Update - 28 Oct 2020

Colombia

MSF responds to a resurgence of violence in Norte de Santander and Nariño

MSF is providing general and mental healthcare in Colombia’s Norte de Santander and Nariño, where violence has led to mass displacements and confinements Project Update - 28 Oct 2020

Speaking Out videos: MSF and the Rohingya 1992 - 2014

Speaking Out videos: MSF and the Rohingya 1992 - 2014 - 28 Oct 2020

Mariam Maïga, holding her son and his vaccination card after his measles vaccination. Arnassaye, one of the outlying vaccination sites.

Mali

Prevention is better than cure – vaccinating against measles in Timbuktu

MSF and the Ministry of health recently vaccinated 50,000 children against measles in Timbuktu, Mali, where displacement and violence mean coverage is low. Project Update - 27 Oct 2020

Syria

Dozens of people treated following an airstrike in Idlib

Dozens of people have been treated at a hospital co-managed by MSF, following an airstrike in a relatively stable part of Idlib governorate, northwest Syria. Project Update - 26 Oct 2020

Omaima is 52 years old and suffers from neurological problems, asthma, hyper-tension and mental health issues.
She says:
"We have been in this camp for one year, it is a terrible camp; full of rats, dirt, there is not enough food and all of this causes mental health problems.
The health system in the camp has deteriorated and, because I am asthmatic, I don’t want to see the doctor here because I am afraid of being put in quarantine.
I prefer to be in my tent which is full of rats and snakes, but at least I am not going to be in direct contact with other sick people from different communities in the same container.”

Greece

Negligent and dangerous COVID-19 response in Vathy camp, Samos

On Greece's Samos island, the inadequate COVID-19 response in Vathy camp is dangerous and should be immediately addressed. Project Update - 26 Oct 2020

Cameroon

Doctors Without Borders responds to school shooting in southwest Cameroon

Following a school shooting in Kumba, Doctors Without Borders launched a mass casualty plan, responding with our ambulance service and surgical care in the Presbyterian General Hospital. Press Release - 24 Oct 2020

An MSF medical team was dispatched to conduct a triage of the survivors.

Following assessment by the doctor, two patients were designated as requiring of further examination in the ships hospital, onboard SeaWatch4.

Both are stable but remain under observation.

Mediterranean migration

Lives on the line as legal appeal lodged to free the Sea-Watch 4

Sea-Watch, the organisation which runs the Sea-Watch 4, the search and rescue vessel on which MSF provides medical care, has lodged an appeal against the ship's detainment. Press Release - 23 Oct 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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Do you leave or do you stay: COVID-19 in South Sudan