An MSF-supported surgeon working in rural northern Homs governorate tells of the pervasive fear of permanent aerial threat, but also the commitment to stay and provide surgery. Voices from the Field - 9 Mar 2016

The MSF-supported hospital in Ma’arat Al Numan before it was attacked and destroyed on Monday 15th Feb. At least 25 people were killed, including nine staff members.
The 30-bed hospital had 54 staff, two operating theatres, an outpatient department and an emergency room. The outpatient department treated around 1500 people a month, the ER carried out an average of 1,100 consultations a month, and around 140 operations a month, mainly orthopaedic and general surgery, were carried out in the operating theatres.

MSF has been supporting this hospital since September 2015 and covered all the needs of the facility including provision of medical supplies and running costs.

Syria

War-wounded and war-dead in Syria – medical data provides a stark warning that 2015 must not be repeated

"The medical data documented in the report reveal an appalling reality,” said Dr. Joanne Liu, international president of MSF. “The consistently high numbers of women and children - more than 900 wounded per week - puts beyond any doubt that civilian areas and infrastructure were either targeted or indiscriminately struck throughout the military campaigns in 2015." Press Release - 9 Mar 2016

Noor Alam's wife sits on the floor on the first floor in the hope of catching a little sun with her youngest daughter and her second eldest son.

Pakistan

Stories from patients cured of hepatitis C at MSF’s Machar Clinic in Karachi

Voices from the Field - 9 Mar 2016

Pakistan

When they are diagnosed with hepatitis C, patients think they will die

By Dr Muhammad Khawar Aslam, medical doctor for Médecins Sans Frontières in Karachi Voices from the Field - 9 Mar 2016

France

Cynicism beyond bounds, Grande-Synthe

The Grande-Synthe camp, in France, has the capacity to house 2,500 people. It has just opened, but is already threatened with closure. It may not meet the standards, but one thing is certain. In France, the cynicism of the State exceeds the bounds. Press Release - 9 Mar 2016

New shelters constructed by MSF in the Grande Synthe camp, before the settling of people.

France

New quarters for the Grande-Synthe camp

“We built this site to ease a crisis situation in which the government has refused to intervene,” explained André Jincq, MSF deputy program manager.

. Project Update - 7 Mar 2016

MSF staff walk into the area where there are patients who are either suspected or confirmed as having Ebola. Since late March MSF has been working in the south east of the country and in the capital, helping health authorities tackle the virus, which had not been seen in the West African country before the 2014 outbreak.

Ebola and haemorrhagic fevers

Experimental treatment with favipiravir for Ebola virus disease

This study discusses a multicenter non-randomized trial on Ebola virus disease, in which all patients would receive favipiravir along with standardized care. The objectives of the trial were to test the feasibility and acceptability of an emergency trial in the context of a large Ebola outbreak, and to collect data on the safety and effectiveness of favipiravir in reducing mortality and viral load in patients with EVD. Journal article - 7 Mar 2016

Medical staff feed a baby suffering malaria.

Central African Republic

Despite the return to calm some displaced people in Carnot have yet to return home

Despite the return to calm, the situation in Central African remains unstable and over 450,000 people are still displaced within the country. At the Catholic Church in Carnot, the displaced are gradually moving out of what has become an enclave. "Many of them are scared of going back and the violence starting up again," says Stanislas Tatale, MSF’s social and health worker in the church compound. Opinion - 7 Mar 2016

Upon return to the MSF healthcare centre in Pibor, MSF teams encountered a scene of chaos and destruction. Fans were ripped from the ceiling in the patients’ wards, electronic equipment and fuel were taken and all the therapeutic food used for treating malnourished children was stolen. Anything of value that was not bolted to the floor was carried off, even hospital beds for sick women and children. Life-saving medicines, medical equipement and essential records were strewn everywhere while cabinets and shelves were tossed and emptied in a whirlwind of theft and disrespect for medical care.
(Friday, Feb. 22, 2016)
(C) Loic Jaeger /MSF

South Sudan

Looming medical crisis in Pibor following devastating violence and looting of MSF medical compound

“This is a blatant and outrageous attack on life-saving medical care,” said Corinne Benazech, MSF head of mission in South Sudan. “Every single item of value that was not bolted to the floor was stolen, even the hospital beds for treating sick and malnourished children in the pediatric ward." Press Release - 4 Mar 2016

Mary in clinic with her son David.
“All I was able to take with me was one jerry can,” says Mary, who is sitting in the waiting area of the MSF clinic that was setup within days of the fighting. She holds her sick two-year-old son David in her arms as she explains that her house has been burnt and she had to beg for plastic sheeting while inside the camp so that her family of six could have any shelter at all. With her house in town destroyed and all her possessions stolen, her family’s future is not clear. “We have nothing to build a new house with,” she says.

South Sudan

Fear, worry but also relief; a week of extraordinary violence and courage in Pibor

Project Update - 4 Mar 2016

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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The feeling of powerlessness is excruciating, but I cannot abandon my people