Médecins Sans Frontières

21 January: Eight days on, the situation in Haiti remains extremely serious, with fears of supply shortages and aftershocks. Although aid is beginning to be delivered, bottlenecks remain, and people are starting to die of sepsis from infections that go untreated. There is also increasing evidence of widespread psychological trauma in the population.

19 January 2010: Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders staff work 24 hours a day to treat as many patients injured in the January 12 earthquake as possible, but the needs are huge and there are delays in receiving crucial supplies.

18 January 2010: The situation in Port-au-Prince days after the earthquake remains dire. Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams remain focused on trying to cope with the huge demand for life-saving surgery from those who suffered terrible injuries in the quake.

18 January 2010: Six days after the earthquake, international support is slowly appearing in Port-au-Prince and Haiti. Most of the needs are far from being covered. The most severe cases can hardly be taken car of due to lack of structures offering good surgical conditions. Although some markets have reopened, food and water remain an issue. Aftershocks and people leaving buildings in a rush are still daily scenes. The population is getting frustrated, and tension is on the rise.

Pakistan earthquake 2005 Inflatable Hospitals
©  MSF

16 January 2010: Laurent Dedieu is a logistics supervisor for Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) projects in Haiti. Since the earthquake that hit Port-au-Prince on January 12, he has been in frequent contact with the teams on the ground and helping to organise the logistics of MSF’s response. Here he describes the logistical challenges the teams are dealing with right now.

17 January 2010: For over four years, MSF has been equipped with inflatable hospitals in which it is possible to rapidly install surgical facilities, intensive care units and hospital beds. Dr. Mego Terzian, MSF deputy emergency coordinator explains.

15 January 2010: The MSF teams in Port-au-Prince are focussing their attention now on expanding their surgical capacity and two operating theatres are now working to help 300 patients who have been transfered to the MSF facility at Choscal hospital in the Cite Soleil district. The rest of the medical staff are still responding to the hundreds of people at their clinics who need immediate first aid and more basic care for their wounds.

15 January 2010:  Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti on the 12th of January, MSF medical teams in Port-au-Prince have been treating large numbers of people.

15 January 2010: Dr. Greg Elder is the deputy operations manager for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Haiti. Here, he provides an update on the situation on the ground in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 24 hours after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the country leaving tens of thousands wounded and unknown number of dead.

15 January 2009: Tens of thousands of people were feared dead in Haiti's catastrophic earthquake, with many buried or trapped in demolished schools, hospitals and hillside shanties in the impoverished capital. The images below have been supplied by Reuters news agency. Please note, some images are very distressing.

14 January 2010:  Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) aid worker Danielle Trépanier was rescued on Wednesday afternoon (13th January) after almost 24 hours under the rubble of a collapsed staff-house.

12 January 2009:  The recent violence in Calabria, Southern Italy, has placed the plight of the region’s seasonal migrant workers in the international spotlight. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) denounces the ongoing neglect and exploitation of this vulnerable group.

11 January 2010: Heavy rains in the province of Bujumbura Rural, Burundi, caused Rusizi River to burst its banks and flood the MSF Centre for Obstetrical Emergencies in Kabezi (CURGO), where 42 women and 10 newborns were hospitalised.

15 December 2009: In a decisive step to improve access to medicines in the developing world, the Executive Board of UNITAID, the international health financing agency, has given the green light for a patent pool for AIDS medicines to open for business.

14 December 2009:  As incidents of violence increase in Southern Sudan, the crisis there worsens. Getting either food or healthcare is extremely difficult for people, especially those who have been forced to flee their homes. MSF is calling for more focus on emergency humanitarian assistance.

14 December 2009:  The people of Southern Sudan are trapped in a worsening crisis, following the most violent year since the 2005 peace agreement that ended more than two decades of civil war with the North. However, the response to the escalating emergency is inadequate, says international medical relief organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

14 December 2009:  On a dusty gravel road to the Afghanistan border in between the horn blasts from passing trucks, the faint cries of newborn babies can be heard from inside the Médecins Sans Frontières birthing unit in the town of Kuchlak – located in Pakistan’s south western Balochistan province.

Afghanistan: Empty hospital beds in the capital of Helmand

10 December: MSF is working again in Afghanistan after five years' absence. General Director, Christopher Stokes, has worked extensively in the country and recently returned to take stock of MSF projects. Here, he explains three principles behind MSF's work; providing free care, not accepting funds from governments and keeping all weapons out of the hospitals.

08 December 2009:  MSF started operating in the Mardan District, Pakistan, in response to the arrival of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing heavy fighting started between Pakistani military forces and fighters from armed opposition groups in the Swat District in May 2009.

07 December 2009:  MSF is deeply saddened by the recent attack during the graduation of medical students from Benadir University and sends its thoughts and condolences to the families and friends of those who have suffered as a result of this tragic event.

07 December 2009:  Complexo do Alemão, like hundreds of slums in Rio de Janeiro, is controlled by gangs of armed drug dealers and residents live with constant fear .

02 December 2009:  MSF has now started diagnosing and treating people affected by Chagas disease in Arauca department. This Northeastern region of Colombia has one of the highest prevalence rates of Chagas in the country, with an estimated eight percent of the population infected. Caused by a parasite, Chagas disease can lead to serious health complications and even death. Until now, treatment has not been available in the country and, without screening programmes, many do not even know they are infected

02 December 2009:  Located in bone-dry central Somalia, the city of Galkayo is divided by warring militias and separatist regional governments that continuously clash in armed confrontations. Since MSF was forced to evacuate its international staff in 2008 due to insecurity, MSF’s Somali staff have continued to provide medical care to people trapped in a conflict with nowhere else to turn.

01 December 2009:  The Stories from South Africa mini site tells the stories of people in Khayelitsha who are living with HIV/AIDS and how their lives have changed with the introduction of anti-retroviral drugs and TB treatment. Listen to their stories, their hopes and their dreams, as they deal with the difficulties in facing poverty, marginalisation and stigma.

01 December 2009:  November's Month in Focus includes: Philippines: Aid for the homeless / Paris: Winter kits distributed to Afghans / AIDS: International funds waning / Tuberculosis: Calling for European funds / Research: Medical Innovation

30 November 2009:  Watch the all too common story of a child, forced to become a soldier, through his words and drawings. Then go to Condition: Critical to leave a message of support for him and all the children like him who have been forced to grow up in such a horrific way. MSF will take a selection of these messages to Congo (DRC) as a show of support and solidarity.

19 November 2009: New Italian government policies to curb the influx of migrants have led to a sharp decrease in the number of migrants and refugees arriving by boat in Lampedusa, Italy. As a result, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is withdrawing its team from the island.

12 November 2009:  MSF emergency teams are responding to the first ever dengue fever outbreak in Cape Verde, and the biggest reported in Africa.

11 November 2009:  Funding by rich countries to combat malnutrition has remained flat for seven years, according to a report released today by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). This barely accounts for three percent of the funds needed to reduce the 3.5 to 5 million annual deaths of children under five attributed to malnutrition.

06 November 2009:  MSF welcomes the announcement that the detention centre for migrants and asylum seekers in Pagani, Mitilini (Lesvos island) will be temporarily closed. This decision could open the way to better treatment for a vulnerable population.

06 November 2009:  Seven MSF vaccination sites, where thousands of civilians had gathered, came under fire during attacks by the Congolese army against the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR) in North Kivu, Congo (DRC). MSF denounces this clearly unacceptable abuse of humanitarian aid for military purposes.

05 November 2009:  Following a serious outbreak of severe parasitic disease, kala azar, in Southern Sudan Médecins Sans Frontières, is responding to the emergency in several locations across both Jonglei and Upper Nile States. MSF is treating patients in its clinics in Pibor and Lankien and using mobile teams in Rom to actively trace patients.

05 November 2009:  A retreat from international funding commitments for AIDS threatens to undermine the dramatic gains made in reducing AIDS-related illness and death in recent years, according to a new report by MSF.

04 November 2009:  Goedele Van Bavel, MSF head of mission for South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, describes renewed violence in the town of Baraka.

04 November 2009:  MSF has treated 12 wounded people since 20th October in its medical facility following clashes near Shangil Tobaya (Northern Darfur), which have led to the displacement of hundreds of families.

03 November 2009:  October month in Focus includes: Natural disaster in Southern Asia and the South Pacific. Cholera outbreak in Papua New Guinea. MSF authorized to continue its activities in Iraq. Nutritional emergency in the southwest of Central African Republic. Violence Continues Against Civilians in Upper Uélé, DRC

03 November 2009:  New drug treatment offers hope for people infected with human African tripanosomiasis, but only if the affected regions can be made secure enough to allow healthcare workers access to the population.

28 October 2009:   The armed conflict is intensifying across Nariño Department. Médecins Sans Frontières calls for more care for internally displaced people.

28 October 2009:  The Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip, "Cast Lead," launched on 27th December, 2008, killed 1,300 Palestinians (including 900 civilians, 300 of whom were children) and injured 5,300 more in 22 days. Given what many considered as Israel's disproportionate response and the number of civilian victims, public opinion was widely opposed to the war.

23 October 2009:  MSF teams in the Philippines are continuing to help the most vulnerable people affected by tropical storms Ketsana (Ondoy) and Parma (Pepeng), which struck the country on 26th September and 3rd October

22 October 2009:  Loreto Barceló is the coordinator of the MSF emergency teams currently assisting the survivors of the earthquake that struck the island of Sumatra on 30th September. 20 days later, Loreto tells us how the situation is changing

21 October 2009:   European countries dramatically underfunding TB research, according to a report released today by the medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

21 October 2009:  Médecins Sans Frontières calls for respect for healthcare facilities after Razeh Hospital hit by rocket fire

20 October 2009:  Flood waters in the Indian states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are receding, yet millions are still left homeless

19 October 2009:  Javier Roldan, MSF's field coordinator in Somalia takes us through pictures from his last visit to Somalia

19 October 2009:  On Monday, 12th October, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams received patients reportedly injured in a demonstration against the demolition of the Bundu-Ama waterfront area in Port Harcourt.

14 October 2009:  One year after violence erupted in Haut-Uélé district, in northern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), attacks and clashes have now expanded to new areas

12 October 2009:  Ten days after an earthquake struck the island of Sumatra, a considerable amount of aid is already coming in to the Indonesian island. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is therefore focusing its efforts on people who live in areas that have received little aid.

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09 October 2009:  The support to Ahmed Shah Baba marks the return of MSF to Afghanistan after five years of absence, following the murder of five colleagues in 2004.

07 October 2009:  Millions of people have been left homeless in the Indian states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh following floods due to heavy rains over the last week. More than 250 people are confirmed dead, according to Indian officials.

06 October 2009:  More than 60 MSF surgeons, doctors, nurses, logisticians and others are currently part of the substantial international and local aid effort in Manila in the Philippines, Padang in Indonesia and Samoa in the South Pacific. 45 tons of medical and relief material is on its way to Indonesia.

06 October 2009: Around 40 MSF staff are now part of the aid effort in Indonesia following the earthquake of the 3rd October. The teams, consisting of surgeons, nurses, psychologists and logisticians, are split, with some starting mobile clinics for affected people and distributing relief items and others assessing needs of people in the city of Padang and the surrounding area, where close to 90% of the houses have been destroyed.

06 October 2009:  On Saturday, 3rd October, three days after a powerful earthquake hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra leaving close to 1,000 dead, approximately 3,000 missing and more than 3,000 wounded, the first MSF teams arrived in the area. About 20 workers, including surgeons, kidney specialists, nurses, psychologists and logisticians, have started to assess needs in the city of Padang and the surrounding area.

06 October 2009:   It’s started raining again in the Philippines as another typhoon is forecast for this weekend. Tropical storm Ketsana which hit last Saturday caused major flooding in and around the capital Manila, displacing 140,000 people including 70,000 people who are now staying in evacuation centres.

02 Ocotber 2009:  Several MSF emergency teams have already arrived or are flying to countries in East Asia after a succession of natural disasters in the region. In Indonesia, Philippines and the Samoa islands, MSF will focus its activities to meet identified unmet needs, from surgical care to distribution of relief items.

02 October 2009:  MSF teams are shocked by the degree of violence following events on Monday, 28th September where demonstrators were attacked and gunned down by security forces in the Guinean capital of Conakry. MSF helped treat more than 400 wounded in the Donka and Matam health centres, a third of which had serious injuries.

01 October 2009:  An earthquake of the magnitude 7.6 struck off the city of Padang on the western coast of Indonesia's Sumatra Island, Wednesday at 5.16 pm local time. Immediately after the quake hit, MSF was in contact with former Indonesian staff to get a clearer picture of the needs and to organise an assessment team to the affected areas.

26 May: In SURVIVE, the first of three videos made for Condition: Critical focusing on teens in the war, Bahati tells us his story. Whilst trying to get home, he, his aunt, uncle and cousin took refuge in a banana plantation for the night. As they were sitting there, three men opened fire on them. There was an explosion and Bahati was injured. Tragically, his baby cousin died on the spot.