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Since early July, Niger has been battling the worst cholera outbreak in years, which affected over 3,800 people and caused 78 deaths. As the disease ebbs, Médecins Sans Frontières and local health authorities shift focus to preventing future outbreaks in the southern region of Maradi, most affected by the current epidemic and known as a hotspot for cholera along the border of Niger and Nigeria. These efforts include vaccination of over 145,000 people with an easy-to-administer oral vaccine in three of Maradi’s health zones: Tchadoua, Aguié and Gazaoua. MSF has provided local health authorities with logistic and technical support. Epicentre is supporting the intervention with a post-vaccination survey.
Niger

Preventing future outbreaks in a cholera hotspot

Since early July, Niger has been battling the worst cholera outbreak in years. As the disease ebbs, MSF and local health authorities shift their focus to preventing future outbreaks in the southern region of Maradi, most affected by the current epidemic and known as a hotspot for cholera along the border of Niger and Nigeria. Project Update - 17 Dec 2018
 
A house in the illegal settlements of the Bapong mine near a KCC MSF project.
South Africa

Critical gaps in mental healthcare for survivors of sexual violence

MSF's report finds that nearly half of health facilities in South Africa designated to care for survivors of sexual violence say they do not offer counselling services to child survivors of rape, who potentially represent up to half of all survivors, while 1 in 5 offer no counselling services at all. Report - 17 Dec 2018
 
A sexual assault survivor working on her body map during MSF's Body Mapping workshop, Rustenburg, June 2018. 
MSF facilitated a 2-day Body Mapping workshop attended by adolescent survivors of sexual violence from across the Rustenburg area. In Rustenburg, South Africa, a 2016 MSF survey revealed that 1 in 4 women between the age of 18-49 has been raped in her lifetime. As part of MSF's comprehensive sexual violence project in Rustenburg, Body Mapping is used to help survivors of sexual violence identify the internal and external scars and hardships that they are living with and working through. Body Maps comprise a life-size outline of the body, which the survivor "maps" with their experiences and emotions.
South Africa

The mental healthcare lottery faced by victims of sexual violence

Yolanda Hanning, mental health manager for MSF’s Rustenburg project, presents the challenges victims of sexual violence in South Africa face in accessing mental healthcare and how MSF is working to change that. Voices from the Field - 17 Dec 2018
 
Aïcha 
Aïcha is nine-years-old. She fled to Niger by crossing through the jungle. She experienced hunger when she was fleeing. In Niger, Aïcha stopped playing and was always sitting alone. She found it hard to eat and was losing weight. She had nightmares which woke her up.
Niger

Diffa’s young minds damaged by the conflict

Children account for about 70 per cent of the 250,000 people who have sought refuge in Diffa, Niger, fleeing conflict in the Lake Chad region. MSF is running a mental health and psychosocial support programme for children and adolescents in Diffa, to help them to overcome the trauma they have experienced. Project Update - 14 Dec 2018
 
Anas 
Twelve-year-old Anas and his parents left Nigeria four years ago. Anas’ parents were small traders and the family lived well, but they had to give everything up due to the conflict. Anas witnessed several murders when his village was attacked.
Niger

Lives haunted by violence

Since late 2014, the region of Diffa in southern Niger has been caught in armed conflict, forcing 250,000 people from their homes, over two-thirds of them children. Halisa, Mohammed, Asan, Aïcha, Mariam and Issa, participants in the mental health programme that MSF runs in Diffa, share their stories. Voices from the Field - 14 Dec 2018
 
Issa
Ten-year-old Issa was kidnapped by an armed group when his village was attacked. He spent several months in captivity and saw another boy killed.
Mental health

“It takes a lot to bring these children back to something approaching a normal life”

Interview with Cristina Carreño, MSF mental health advisor, on the role of mental healthcare for children in MSF’s programmes for victims of violence, conflict or natural disasters, and notably for displaced populations. Interview - 13 Dec 2018
 
At the Casa del Migrante in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, an MSF team provides medical care and mental health care to hundreds of migrants and refugees who arrive daily in this city located in southern Mexico, known for being a place of passage where travelers usually take a break before continuing their journey aboard “La Bestia”, the freight train that connects the southern and northern borders of the Mexican republic.
Central American migration

US asylum restrictions are deepening Mexican border crisis

Current and proposed policies to severely restrict the ability to seek asylum in the United States have created an administrative limbo that leaves Central American asylum seekers in Mexico exposed to further violence. Press Release - 13 Dec 2018
 
Thousands of Iraqis who fled IS’s iron grip and the US-led coalition’s bombing campaigns, they have all but lost hope in their country’s future. Their story is a testament to the fact that, while the Islamic State group has been crushed militarily, peace and prosperity remain a distant dream for many Iraqis.
Iraq

Iraq’s displaced see no hope on the horizon

Iraqis who fled the Islamic State group’s iron grip and the US-led coalition’s bombing campaigns have all but lost hope in the future. Their story is testament to the fact that, while the Islamic State group appears to have been defeated militarily, peace and prosperity remain a distant dream for many Iraqis. Voices from the Field - 12 Dec 2018
 
In October 2018, MSF teams in collaboration with MoH andHellenic Center for Disease Control & Prevention (KEELPNO) vaccinated 200 children living in VIAL camp on Chios island against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) as well as Polio for those who weren't already vaccinated. 
 
In March 2018, MSF mobile units began holding daily visits to the VIAL camp offering primary health care, sexual and reproductive healthcare (ante-/postnatal care; gynecology; family planning), and mental healthcare (individual clinical psychological care sessions). In July 2018, MSF set up a permanent clinic outside VIAL Camp. A social worker complements the support offered to patients at both the local hospital and the camp, linking patients as well to legal aid actors locally and in Athens. Patients in need of psychiatric treatment are referred to a local NGO since the waiting time at the local hospital’s can be as long as three months.  In addition, an outreach team is regularly deployed to the camp providing health advice, promoting MSF's activities, and referring patients to our clinic.
Refugees, IDPs and people on the move

"Migration is not a crime. Saving lives is not a crime"

Speech given by MSF International President Dr Joanne Liu at the Global Compact of Migration conference in Marrakesh, Morocco, on refugees and migration. Speech - 11 Dec 2018
 
A woman in detention centre.
Her testimony: “We were abandoned at sea. People lost hope. Why did we let people die at sea? They have all the means to rescue us. We are all humans. If we try to go to Europe, it’s to have a better life. People will keep continuing taking journey by sea. There are people who are escaping war, others are escaping poverty; people should be rescued and later on each individual case is looked at. We are not in Libya to stay here, we want to go to Europe. We are not criminals”.
Libya

Open letter to the UN on the fate of refugees trapped in dangerous Libya

Open letter from MSF to Ghassan Salamé, Special Representative and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya, on the situation of the refugees and migrants forcibly disembarked from the Nivin merchant ship and still at risk in Libya Open Letter - 10 Dec 2018
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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