Skip to main content
Back to main menu

About Us

How we work

See what triggers an intervention and how supply and logistics allow our teams to respond quickly.

Learn more
How we're run

Discover our governance and what it means to be an association. Find a quick visual guide to our offices around the world.

Learn more
Reports and financials

Read through our annual financial and activity reports, and find out about where our funds come from and how they are spent.

Learn more
Accountability

Read the policies, reports, and plans on how we address issues like racism and reduce our carbon footprint, ensuring our actions align with the highest ethical standards.

Learn more

What we do

Médecins Sans Frontières brings medical humanitarian assistance to victims of conflict, natural disasters, epidemics or healthcare exclusion.

View all topics Activities by country
Featured Cholera Gaza Israel war Mediterranean migration

Where we work

In more than 70 countries, Médecins Sans Frontières provides medical humanitarian assistance to save lives and ease the suffering of people in crisis situations.

View all countries
Featured Haiti Palestine Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

MSF Websites

A Global Network
Our offices around the world
Our offices around the world
Other Sites
View Resource Centre
MSF Access

MSF Access pushes for access to, and the development of, life-saving and life-prolonging medicines, diagnostic tests and vaccines for people in our programmes and beyond.

GO TO SITE
CRASH

Based in Paris, CRASH conducts and directs studies and analysis of MSF actions. They participate in internal training sessions and assessment missions in the field.

GO TO SITE
UREPH

Based in Geneva, UREPH (or Research Unit) aims to improve the way MSF projects are implemented in the field and to participate in critical thinking on humanitarian and medical action.

GO TO SITE
ARHP

Based in Barcelona, ARHP documents and reflects on the operational challenges and dilemmas faced by the MSF field teams.

GO TO SITE
MSF Analysis

Based in Brussels, MSF Analysis intends to stimulate reflection and debate on humanitarian topics organised around the themes of migration, refugees, aid access, health policy and the environment in which aid operates.

GO TO SITE
MSF Supply

This logistical and supply centre in Brussels provides storage of and delivers medical equipment, logistics and drugs for international purchases for MSF missions.

GO TO SITE
MSF Logistique

This supply and logistics centre in Bordeaux, France, provides warehousing and delivery of medical equipment, logistics and drugs for international purchases for MSF missions.

GO TO SITE
Amsterdam Procurement Unit

This logistical centre in Amsterdam purchases, tests, and stores equipment including vehicles, communications material, power supplies, water-processing facilities and nutritional supplements.

GO TO SITE
Brazilian Medical Unit

BRAMU specialises in neglected tropical diseases, such as dengue and Chagas, and other infectious diseases. This medical unit is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

GO TO SITE
MSF Medical Guidelines

Our medical guidelines are based on scientific data collected from MSF’s experiences, the World Health Organization (WHO), other renowned international medical institutions, and medical and scientific journals.

GO TO SITE
Epicentre

Providing epidemiological expertise to underpin our operations, conducting research and training to support our goal of providing medical aid in areas where people are affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or excluded from health care.

GO TO SITE
Evaluation Units

Evaluation Units have been established in Vienna, Stockholm, and Paris, assessing the potential and limitations of medical humanitarian action, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of our medical humanitarian work.

GO TO SITE
LGBTQI+ Inclusion in Health Settings

MSF works with LGBTQI+ populations in many settings over the last 25-30 years. LGBTQI+ people face healthcare disparities with limited access to care and higher disease rates than the general population.

GO TO SITE
LUXOR

The Luxembourg Operational Research (LuxOR) unit coordinates field research projects and operational research training, and provides support for documentation activities and routine data collection.

GO TO SITE
MSF Academy for Healthcare

To upskill and provide training to locally-hired MSF staff in several countries, MSF has created the MSF Academy for Healthcare.

GO TO SITE
Humanitarian Law

This Guide explains the terms, concepts, and rules of humanitarian law in accessible and reader-friendly alphabetical entries.

GO TO SITE
MSF Paediatric Days

The MSF Paediatric Days is an event for paediatric field staff, policy makers and academia to exchange ideas, align efforts, inspire and share frontline research to advance urgent paediatric issues of direct concern for the humanitarian field.

GO TO SITE
MSF Foundation

The MSF Foundation aims to create a fertile arena for logistics and medical knowledge-sharing to meet the needs of MSF and the humanitarian sector as a whole.

GO TO SITE
DNDi

A collaborative, patients’ needs-driven, non-profit drug research and development organisation that is developing new treatments for neglected diseases, founded in 2003 by seven organisations from around the world.

GO TO SITE
MSF Science Portal

Our digital portal dedicated to sharing the latest medical evidence from our humanitarian activities around the globe.

GO TO SITE
Noma

Noma is a preventable and treatable neglected disease, but 90 per cent of people will die within the first two weeks of infection if they do not receive treatment.

GO TO SITE
TIC

The TIC is aiming to change how MSF works to better meet the evolving needs of our patients.

GO TO SITE
Telemedicine

MSF's telemedicine hub aims to overcome geographic barriers for equitable, accessible, and quality patient care.

GO TO SITE
Sweden Innovation Unit

Launched in 2012, the MSF Sweden Innovation Unit deploys a human-centered approach for promoting a culture of innovation within MSF.

GO TO SITE
Geo MSF

The GeoMSF platform is a dynamic one-stop-shop website for all of MSF's GIS related services and products. Access maps and applications through the catalogue, request geographical support, or produce a map on GeoMSF.

GeoMSF
Ebola disease in DRC: find out how we're responding
Learn more
8000 Results
 
When the team goes on a rescue, the first step is to distribute life jackets. On 3 October, MSF carried out a rescue in collaboration with an Irish warship. When we eventually got there, we realised that some people had been in the water for quite some time. Some of them had already inhaled fuel and drunk a lot of sea water. A 34-year-old pregnant woman from Nigeria died after we failed to reanimate her. In the midst of the busy rescue operation, there were six bodies in the water that couldn’t be recovered. These people died anonymously. A mother lost her two children. She had tried to secure them, but the boat cracked and broke and she found herself in the water, unable to hold onto them anymore.
Mediterranean migration

October - A merciless month on the Mediterranean

More than 4,200 people have died or gone missing so far in 2016 in the Mediterranean Sea. The year is not yet over, but it has now become the deadliest on record for migrants and refugees crossing the Mediterranean, trying to reach Europe. Here are some images taken in October aboard the MSF search and rescue boat Dignity I. Photo Story - 4 Nov 2016
 
In Tajikistan, in an attempt to breakup the everyday routine for children undergoing TB treatment, MSF’s psychosocial team organises celebration parties as part of MSF’s pediatric therapeutic play programme. hospitalized for TB treatment, as they face prolonged hospitalization and lengthy treatment regimens. The celebration parties offer a break and an opportunity for emotional support.
Tajikistan

Stories from MSF's paediatric TB projects

Delamanid is one of the first new TB medicines in over 50 years, and recently the project team in Dushanbe, Tajikistan's capital, started treating a young TB patient with it. It follows several months of preparations and negotiations with the Ministry of Health and its counterparts. Project Update - 4 Nov 2016
 
Vector control is also an important aspect of MSF´s project in Narciso Campero. Last year, hundreds of houses were fumigated in the municipalities of Omereque, Pasorapa and Aiquile in coordination with the national Chagas program.
Bolivia

MSF develops an information system for exterminating the bugs that transmit Chagas

Project Update - 4 Nov 2016
 
Nine-year-old Abdul Hadi lies on a bed in a hospital ward in besieged east Aleppo, watched over by his older brother. Abdul Hadi was injured by a bomb blast while playing outside his home. He sustained head injuries, has lost his memory and can no longer feed himself. Medical staff say he needs a CT scan, but there is no such equipment available in east Aleppo, and he cannot be referred elsewhere for specialised care because all roads leading out of the city are blocked.
Syria

Severe shortages in east Aleppo put children’s lives at risk

Project Update - 3 Nov 2016
 
The waiting room of the MSF-supported Mbalazime health centre, Bangassou sub-prefecture, Central African Republic.
Central African Republic

Great humanitarian need, little international attention

Project Update - 1 Nov 2016
 
In Kousseri city, the number of displaced people who have fled violence could reach 40 000. They are scattered around the city and are hosted by local families. MSF is supporting 3 health centers in the city of Kousseri (Madana, Madagascar, Amchidiré) including ambulatory therapeutic treatment centers (ATFC) for severe acute malnutrition. In Madana and Amchidiré, under five OPD and cover up vaccination is also provided by MSF, along with mental health support. Activities are open several times a week (from 2 to 5 times according to the number of patients seeking care). The main illnesses are diarrhea, malaria skin diseases and respiratory tract infections. Complicated cases are referred to Kousseri regional Hospital.
Lake Chad Crisis

Lake Chad: Years of Forgotten Crisis

Located in west-central Africa at the junction of Chad, Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon, Lake Chad was once among the continent’s largest bodies of water. Owing to a combination of climate change and overuse, however, Lake Chad’s size has steadily dwindled, putting the region’s population of roughly 30 million people under increasing strain. But diminishing resources are not the only thing they have to fear. Medium.com - 31 Oct 2016
 
msf-placeholder
Syria

Patients trapped in east Aleppo suffer lack of specialist care

Project Update - 31 Oct 2016
 
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Dr Clarisse Mpinganzima from Norway treats Annette, whose roof fell on her and her grandson during the hurricane at a clinic in Jérémie, Haiti.
Haiti

Deteriorating health status in hurricane-affected provinces

Project Update - 27 Oct 2016
 
Smoke rises 27 October 2016 over the Jungle camp, Calais after shelters were set on fire during the forced evacuation of refugees and migrants and dismantlement of the site by French police.
France

Authorities failing to ensure care and protection for unaccompanied minors from Calais ‘Jungle’

Project Update - 27 Oct 2016
 
Nanyanyiso Baloi holds her treatment regimen for pre-XDR-TB, which includes delamanid and bedaquiline. Khayelitsha, Western Cape. Nonyanyiso Baloi, a 32-year-old mother of three lives with her children and aunt in Khayelitsha, Western Cape, South Africa. After reacting very badly to first-line TB treatment, doctors desperately searched for alternative treatment options, before discovering her full diagnosis of pre-XDR-TB, which required a whole new treatment regimen. There’s a critical need for clinicians to have newer, improved drugs to treat extensively drug resistant strains of TB. Current treatment regimen: bedaquiline, delamanid, linezolid, clofazimine, levofloxacin, ethambutol, terizidone Nonyanyiso Baloi: “I’ve lived in this house since 1989, and how live here with my aunt and three children, ages 8, 6 and 4 years. I’m a full-time mum. Earlier this year, I lost weight, had no appetite and was vomiting a lot. I was always tired. I was diagnosed and have been on this journey since. I’m happy I got this treatment, because I couldn’t even walk back then – but if I see myself now, I’m doing everything I couldn’t do before.”
South Africa

Treating drug resistant TB in the Western Cape

South Africa has one of the highest burdens of Tuberculosis (TB) and (Drug Resistant) DR-TB in the world, with around 20,000 people diagnosed with DR-TB in 2015. Photo Story - 26 Oct 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.

Learn more