Since May 2013, a violent insurgency by Boko Haram has led to widespread displacement and an escalating humanitarian crisis in the Lake Chad region. According to UNHCR, nearly 1.4 million people have been internally displaced in northeast Nigeria alone, and approximately 170,000 people have fled to neighbouring Cameroon (56,000), Chad (14,000), and Niger (100,000). At least 1,300 people have died due to the violence so far this year. Photo Story - 27 Aug 2015

Chad

The fear that follows them. Providing mental healthcare for refugees

“Through our sessions, MSF psychologists listen and try to normalise the reactions of the refugees,” explains Aurelia Morabito, a psychologist who has been working for MSF in Lake Chad for the last two months. “We know that we cannot make the suffering go away, but we can help people to deal better with their unbearable reactions.” From the beginning of its response to this crisis in Chad in March this year, MSF saw an immediate need to incorporate psychological care into its medical activities. Project Update - 27 Aug 2015

A woman refugee washes in the sea as day breaks in the early morning on the island of Kos, Greece. Refugees, mainly from Syria have been arribving in Kos having made the treacherous crossing from Turkey by boat.

Refugees, IDPs and people on the move

Refugees in Kos stuck in appalling conditions

Between January and July this year, 18,600 refugees arrived on the Greek island Kos by boat from Turkey. The majority are fleeing war and violence in Syria, but many also come from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Pakistan. Project Update - 26 Aug 2015

Intensive Care training, Al Shifa hospital, Gaza. The objective of the "Intensive Care" project is to support and train Gazaoui medical staff to treat patients in intensive care situations. *** Local Caption *** The blockade, set up when Hamas came to power in Gaza in June 2007, imposes tight restrictions on people’s movements and access to goods. In addition to its economic impact, with the rise in unemployment and poverty, the blockade also affects the health sector.

. In January 2011, following a series of assessments implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Health, MSF decided to set up an intensive care programme with several facets.
Although the medical system in Gaza is functional, the support and training that medical staff need to treat patients in intensive care situations has now become an issue that MSF wishes to tackle.

In addition to the training courses for Gazan doctors offered at the Al Shifa hospital, MSF will be sending specialist medical equipment technicians to the Nasser de Khan Younis hospital in southern Gaza. They will provide the hospital with technical support so that it can optimise its use of intensive care equipment. An MSF nurse has been giving staff at the Nasser hospital intensive care training since March 2013, using a bedside teaching approach. MSF also plans to develop its intensive care support programme by offering physiotherapy training in the near future.

Palestine

Delivering training to healthcare workers stuck in Gaza

“The nurses were really enthusiastic, they were very grateful to have the opportunity to develop their intensive care skills," says Rochelle DeLacey, an MSF intensive care nurse working in Gaza." Their only other option really was to Google ‘intensive care’ because they don’t have any other access to training.” Voices from the Field - 26 Aug 2015

South Sudan

Two MSF aid workers killed as fighting continues in Unity state

"The situation is desperate. Ongoing attacks, killings and sexual violence against civilians by any armed actor in Unity state must stop,” says Tara Newell, MSF's Emergency Manager. “People displaced from their homes and villages should be able to move safely to seek assistance, wherever it is being provided.” Press Release - 25 Aug 2015

Burundi

“We treat anyone who is injured, whatever their politics.”

"Wounded patients often fear for their safety in medical facilities, so it is essential to create a place of sanctuary for them, where there is no discrimination," says Bruno Duchenne, MSF Head of Mission in Burundi. "We treat anyone who is injured, whatever their politics." Voices from the Field - 25 Aug 2015

Syria

MSF treats patients with symptoms of exposure to chemical agents

"The patients’ clinical symptoms, the way these symptoms changed over time, and the patients’ testimony about the circumstances of the poisoning all point to exposure to a chemical agent,” Pablo Marco, MSF’s programme manager in Syria. Press Release - 25 Aug 2015

South Sudan

Boat ambulance reaches patients in remote communities into northern Jonglei State

“The ambulance boat is important,” says Mut, an MSF staff working in South Sudan, as it approaches the Old Fangak shoreline. “Before this system, people used to die because there was no transportation to the hospital.” (...)“We are lucky here to have access to healthcare.” Voices from the Field - 25 Aug 2015

Greece

MSF receives 10 people with wounds from Macedonian stun grenades

"The violence used by the FYROM authorities against these harmless and vulnerable people is outrageous and should immediately stop” said Aurelie Ponthieu, MSF’s Humanitarian Advisor on Displacement. “The shocking scenes today are a result of extreme measures to prevent desperate people fleeing violence and war from crossing borders. But closing borders and using violence is not a solution, it is just provoking a humanitarian crisis on the other side." Project Update - 21 Aug 2015

Yemen

At least 65 civilians killed in coalition airstrikes and heavy fighting in Taiz

“At least 65 civilians in the province of Taiz, Yemen have been killed in Saudi led air strikes today, including 17 people from one family,” says Salah Dongu’du, MSF's Project Coordinator, about the current situation in Taiz, Yemen. “The deaths occurred when the strikes hit civilian homes in the area. Those who survived the bombings are searching through the rubble with their bare hands in the hope of finding survivors, as well as the bodies of victims of the attack. Many others are believed to have been injured or killed in the past week in air strikes, shelling and fighting in densely populated areas." Statement - 21 Aug 2015

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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Displaced by conflict in Nigeria