Ebola disease in DRC: find out how we're responding

MSF applauds data showing immediate treatment for all people with HIV saves lives and reduces transmission

“Now’s not the time to slow down the global HIV response in any way, but instead to hit the accelerator to save lives and stop this virus,” said Sharonann Lynch, HIV/TB Policy Advisor for MSF’s Access Campaign. “Any attempt to withdraw HIV support from countries at this point is beyond cynical.” Press Release - 20 Jul 2015

Portrait of Jeilan (28 years old and from Aleppo, Syria) with her 4 year old daughter in the Kara Tepe refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. She has already spent 5 days in the camp waiting for her papers to be issued by the police.

She says, ““I am here with my husband and my four-year-old daughter. We had to leave Aleppo because of the bombing. We ran for our lives. We did not bring anything with us, we left everything behind.

We came from Turkey by sea, at night. It was very dangerous, the wind was strong and the sea was rough. My children would not stop crying. It was a small boat, about 4 metres long. There were 50 people inside, not protected. It took one and a half hours to reach the beach where we landed.

When we arrived at the beach, we found we had to walk 5.5 km with our children. There was no one to take us and the cars would not stop. First we went to the coastguard to get registered. We gave our names and they told us we would get our papers in a day or two, and then we could leave for Athens.

There are four other families with us – 10 or 11 people altogether. We have been here for five days, and are still waiting for our papers.

When we went to the police station yesterday to collect the papers, they told us that they did not have our names. They had made a mistake. The police officer shouted at me, “Go, just go”. He gave no explanation, and did not say when we should come back.

We are staying in a dirty tent. There are no mattresses to sleep on, just cardboard boxes. There are no blankets, nothing, just dirt.

We don’t even want to go near the toilets. The water is not clean, we cannot wash.

The food is not good. For breakfast, we have one piece of bread shared between three people.

One woman arrived today with her two small babies. Their clothes are all wet, but they don’t have any more clothes. She has been asking where she can find some milk for her baby, but nobody gives her milk, so she will have to buy it from somewhere.

We don’t see any help provided for us here in Greece. We don’t want to stay here.

I can’t believe that I am living in such conditions with my family. I used to be a teacher and my husband was an accountant. Look at us now! This is inhumane.”

Greece

Testimonies from migrants and asylum seekers in Lesbos

Thousands of migrants and asylum seekers are currently stranded in precarious conditions across several Greek islands, despite repeated calls since December 2014 by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to Greek authorities and the EU to address the lack of reception capacity. Voices from the Field - 20 Jul 2015

Greece

Thousands of migrants and asylum seekers stranded in precarious conditions across islands

Thousands of migrants and asylum seekers are currently stranded in precarious conditions across islands such as Kos and Lesbos. The current situation is a violation of Greece's and the EU's obligations towards asylum seekers and migrants in Greece, and requires an urgent response. UNHCR needs to step up its response in delivering humanitarian assistance in the Greek islands. Press Release - 20 Jul 2015

Tanzania

Camp for Burundi refugees ‘at breaking point’

As large numbers of refugees fleeing unrest in Burundi cross the border to neighbouring Tanzania, the overcrowded refugee camp of Nyarugusu “has reached breaking point”, according to Sita Cacioppe, emergency coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Press Release - 20 Jul 2015

Italy

Migration: Bourbon Argos not authorised to land 700 rescued migrants in Sicily

Despite lengthy discussions with Italian authorities and efforts by the Italian Coastguards, the Bourbon Argos was not authorised to disembark the 700 migrants in Sicily due to lack of capacity of the reception system. Press Release - 17 Jul 2015

Ebola and haemorrhagic fevers

crisis update - 17 July 2015

Though Ebola has faded from the news headlines, the epidemic in West Africa continues to claim lives today. Around 30 people become infected each week in Sierra Leone and Guinea – a number that would be considered a major disaster under normal circumstances – and the outbreak has recently reemerged in Liberia. Crisis Update - 17 Jul 2015

Ebola and haemorrhagic fevers

“We must finish the job”

“On Ebola, we went from global indifference, to global fear, to global response and now to global fatigue. We must finish the job.” said MSF International President Dr. Joanne Liu. “Going from hundreds of cases to 30 per week took considerable time and massive resources, yet getting from 30 to zero requires the most meticulous, difficult work of all.” Crisis Update - 17 Jul 2015

Palestine

Gaza activity update - July 2015 - One year report

Gaza is regularly subjected to outbursts of violence. Most recently, Israel’s ‘Operation Protective Edge’ targeted Gaza Strip for 50 days in July and August 2014 – the deadliest and most destructive of Israel’s three wars on Gaza since 2008. Crisis Update - 16 Jul 2015

Central African Republic

Emergency team finishes 3 month intervention in Kouango after performing almost 1,500 consultations

Following a three-month presence in Kouango in the south of the country, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has now ended its emergency intervention for displaced people in the area. During that time, the MSF emergency team carried out more than 1,100 medical examinations in its mobile clinics and cared for 362 patients in Kouango hospital. Project Update - 14 Jul 2015

Niger

critical situation in Diffa as hunger gap and malaria season approach

The already fragile condition of the population in Diffa has recently been aggravated by the escalation of the on-going armed conflict in southern Niger. The area bordering north Nigeria is facing new waves of displaced people and refugees escaping the violence raging around Lake Chad, especially since last February when the conflict spread to Niger. Living conditions are critical, with the displaced population having little access to healthcare and safe water. Project Update - 14 Jul 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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