In more than 70 countries, Médecins Sans Frontières provides medical humanitarian assistance to save lives and ease the suffering of people in crisis situations.
We set up the MSF Access Campaign in 1999 to push for access to, and the development of, life-saving and life-prolonging medicines, diagnostic tests and vaccines for people in our programmes and beyond.
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.
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.
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.
This logistical and supply centre in Brussels provides storage of and delivers medical equipment, logistics and drugs for international purchases for MSF missions.
This supply and logistics centre in Bordeaux, France, provides warehousing and delivery of medical equipment, logistics and drugs for international purchases for MSF missions.
This logistical centre in Amsterdam purchases, tests, and stores equipment including vehicles, communications material, power supplies, water-processing facilities and nutritional supplements.
SAMU provides strategic, clinical and implementation support to various MSF projects with medical activities related to HIV and TB. This medical unit is based in Cape Town, South Africa.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Luxembourg Operational Research (LuxOR) unit coordinates field research projects and operational research training, and provides support for documentation activities and routine data collection.
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.
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.
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.
More than one third of our humanitarian and medical assistance is for people affected by armed conflict.
Armed conflict devastates lives. Targeted, harassed and trapped within hardship and poverty, people are often forced into flight. In other cases, people live under siege or in constant fear of indiscriminate or even targeted attacks. In addition, people are often left impoverished without sufficient access to basic needs like food and medical care.
Comprehensive medical and humanitarian support is vital, but health services are often scarce. In conflict zones, we do not take sides.
We provide care based on needs alone, and work to reach those who require medical attention, regardless of which side of the frontline they happen to be.
Armed conflict causes injury, displacement and death. Even after the guns have fallen silent, conflict continues to affect people’s health.
It devastates essential health services, disrupts medical supplies, forces medical staff to flee and leaves health systems broken, so when deadly diseases arrive they’re even harder to fight.
For people caught up in violence or its aftermath, it is more important than ever to have access to healthcare, shelter, sanitation and food.
Voices from the field
You can still see a lot of anger and pain in people’s eyes wherever you go.Abdulrahman Dhannoon Khaleel, MSF project coordinator support
‘Unjustifiable’ Saudi-led coalition air strike on prison kills and injures hundreds
22 Jan 2022
Democratic Republic of Congo
Cycles of violence leave people in Ituri cut off from food and healthcare
Project Update26 Jun 2023
South Sudan
People fleeing conflict in Sudan struggle for survival
Press Release22 Jun 2023
Democratic Republic of Congo
MSF calls for a rapid increase in humanitarian aid for North Kivu crisis
Press Release21 Jun 2023
Uganda
Thousands in need of assistance in Ugandan refugee settlement
Project Update20 Jun 2023
Conflict in Sudan
Armed groups in El Geneina must spare civilians amid intense violence
Press Release19 Jun 2023
Syria
Inadequate water and sanitation pose health threats in Syria
Project Update16 Jun 2023
Palestine
Palestinians face harassment and violence from settlers in West Bank
Project Update12 Jun 2023
Conflict in Sudan
Refugees fleeing violence trapped and forgotten in Chad due to rainy season
Press Release9 Jun 2023
Activity Report
Year in Review 2022
Opinion7 Jun 2023
Research & analysis
Central African Republic
Unprotected: Report on violence and lack of protection for civilians in CAR
Report19 Feb 2019
War and conflict
Humanitarian Wars? - Interview with Rony Brauman
msf-crash.org19 Feb 2018
Book
Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed: The MSF experience
22 Nov 2011
Book
Related topics
In Focus
Attacks on medical care
Attacks against medical facilities and health workers, whether deliberate or indiscriminate, are part of generalised violence and atrocities committed against civilians in armed conflict. They deprive populations of health services, often when they need them the most.
In Focus
Kunduz hospital attack
On 3 October 2015, US airstrikes destroyed our trauma hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, killing 42 people. Our request for an independent investigation has so far gone unanswered.
Crisis Settings
Refugees, IDPs and people on the move
There are many reasons for flight, including war, persecution, conflict, natural disaster, destitution and repression. With health and well-being jeopardised, the lives of the most vulnerable can be at risk.
