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Raissa, 35 years old, shopkeeper, and Maiva, 18 months,
Single, with spouse
Malimaka neighbourhood, district 5, Bangui

"I have six children: the oldest is 19 and the youngest, Maiva, is now 18 months. I live here in Bangui, in the Malimaka neighbourhood, in district 5. 
During the events of 2013, I fled with almost all my neighbours to the IDP camp at M’Poko airport. Seleka set up here in the neighbourhood in March that year (Author’s note: this is when Seleka, a coalition of armed men under former-President Michel Djotodia, took Bangui by force).  There was a Seleka house just on the corner there, and there was another other that way. There were also many of them in the mosque. Those men would do whatever they wanted. When you crossed the road, you had to watch out to make sure you weren’t shot at. They would turn up at houses in the neighbourhood, break down the door and steal everything. Sometimes, to get people to leave, they would fire into the air, and even at people – they killed women by the road behind where we are sitting now. Once the shots started, everyone would start running and the Seleka fighters would make take advantage of this to carry off our things, even our beds. Anti-Balaka fighters chased them off in December 2013 and then set up here themselves. For us, the people living here, not much changed. They also harassed us, which ultimately drove us to leave. 
Before the troubles, we had better lives. During, and just after, I no longer had the means to continue my business. Now, it is quiet, we no longer hear gunfire. It still isn’t easy to earn a living here, but I have to try. I have six children: I can’t just sit here and do nothing. 
When I was living at the M’Poko IDP camp, we were living in poor conditions: my five children and I lived under the same tarpaulin. I became pregnant with Maiva while we were there. I didn’t go to many prenatal consultations, but that was more due to the lack of security in the camp and city, rather than money problems. Ultimately, we left in December last year, when the government closed and tore down the camp. They gave money to some people to help them leave and get back on with their lives. Unfortunately, I didn’t get anything. 
I gave birth to Maiva in Castors, in district 5. For the other children, I gave birth at one of the major hospitals in Bangui. There, they ask for a lot of money. At every step, they ask you for money. For every procedure, you have to pay the healthcare staff directly in cash. They don’t even ask you to go to the counter. The staff do not look after the patients, their top priority is the money. When I went to the hospital to give birth to my second son, I gave birth alone on the floor in the waiting room. If you want the midwife to come to you, you have to spend a lot of money first."

Prenatal consultation for her previous pregnancies: CFA 2,000 
Spending CFA 2,000 on oranges from the market, Raissa could make CFA 2,000 in profit by reselling them.
Global health

Health policies must focus on needs of individuals

Between 12-15 December the Universal Health Coverage Forum 2017 will take place Tokyo, Japan. Report - 11 Dec 2017
 
For more than a year, civil servants salaries haven’t been paid in Yemen. Despite this, many health workers continue to bear their duties despite growing difficulties. Emergency room of the Al Koweit university hospital in Sana’a - Yemen.
Yemen

“Just living has become more difficult”

Monia Khaled is water and sanitation supervisor for MSF in Yemen. This is her account of the dramatic changes in everyday life she has witnessed over the past two and a half years. Voices from the Field - 11 Dec 2017
 
Healthcare staff in the district was trained in these centres by MSF staff experienced in hemorrhagic fevers outbreaks. The main fields of training included the safe management of suspect and confirmed cases, collection of laboratory samples and community surveillance.
Uganda

MSF ends its intervention in response to the Marburg fever outbreak

“This is the first time that Marburg fever has been diagnosed in these districts of Uganda, but strong national surveillance meant that the epidemic was noticed and confirmed early enough to allow for a rapid and effective collaborative response” Project Update - 11 Dec 2017
 
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Yemen

Crisis update - January 2018

MSF is in Yemen to support the Yemeni populations affected by the conflict on all sides of the frontlines. We work in 13 hospitals and health centres and provide support to more than 20 hospitals or health centres across 11 Yemeni governorates: Taiz, Aden, Ad Dhale, Sa’ada, Amran, Hajjah, Ibb, Sana’a, Abyan, Shabwa and Lahj. Crisis Update - 11 Dec 2017
 
MSF staff treat Rohingya refugee patients at a clinic in a camp in Bangladesh.
Rohingya refugee crisis

Rohingya crisis - a summary of findings from six pooled surveys

On 25 August 2017, a counter-insurgency military operation in Rakhine State, Myanmar, led to a mass displacement of Rohingya civilians into Bangladesh. Over the following three months, some 626,000 Rohingya crossed into Bangladesh to escape the violence.
Project Update - 9 Dec 2017
 
MSF staff distributing water to people who’ve been internally displaced by fighting in Zemio, CAR. They were among 7,000 people who have sought shelter at the local hospital.  
Just weeks after this photo was taken, On Tuesday 11 July, two armed men arrived at Zemio hospital in the southeastern region of CAR.
The men threatened a family, one member of which had been a patient two weeks earlier but had been unable to leave the premises due to ongoing violence. As three members of the family – including a woman holding her baby – attempted to seek cover, the armed men shot at them, striking the child in the head and killing her instantly. A month later, another armed group opened fire in the hospital. Thousand fled into the surrounding bush and across the border to DRC. The site now sits vacant and MSF has ceased its operations in the area, with no patients to treat and the safety situation for our staff remaining precarious.
Central African Republic

“The only people left in Zemio are those who couldn’t run away”

Recent attacks on Zemio, in southeast Central African Republic, have closed down the hospital and forced the city’s population, including MSF staff members, to flee. MSF medical coordinator Wil van Roekel describes the ramifications of the violence, including on some 1,600 HIV patients who need daily medication to survive. Voices from the Field - 9 Dec 2017
 
In the state of Puebla, Mexico, MSF teams identified as the main medical conditions among the population both respiratory problems and aggravations of chronic diseases, such as hypertension or diabetes, and psychosomatic symptoms
Mexico

MSF ends emergency response after the earthquakes

In November, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams in Mexico City, Mexico State, Puebla, Oaxaca and Morelos concluded the medical, mental health and heath promotions activities that were launched in response to the emergency situations created by two major earthquakes in September.

Project Update - 8 Dec 2017
 
Victoire is four years old and has been brought to the CTC in Bukavu by his mother. He was very sick and had been vomiting all night.
Access to Healthcare

Taxing the ill - How user fees are blocking universal health coverage

MSF’s report, Taxing the ill, looks at fees paid to access health care, and how these are blocking universal health coverage

Report - 8 Dec 2017
 
Andrés Aquino Villalobos, 32, descansa en una hamaca junto a dos de sus tres hijos en lo que queda de su casa, que fue totalmente dañada tras el terremoto del 7 de septiembre. Actualmente vive con su familia extensa en tiendas o bajo lonas.

Andrés Aquino Villalobos, 32, rests in a hammock with two of his three children in what remains of his house, which was totally damaged after the earthquake of 7 September. He is currently living with his extended family in tents or under canvas.
Mexico

Voices after the earthquake

Photo Story - 8 Dec 2017
 
Auto mechanic, Holger Hornauf, in Bangui, Central African Republic, December 2017.
Central African Republic

My first week in Bangui: A warm welcome!

Holger Hornauf is a trained auto mechanic and in 2016 he went on his first assignment with MSF in the Central African Republic. One year later he’s back in Bangui as our workshop manager and is blogging about his experiences. blogs.msf.org - 7 Dec 2017
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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