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.
Millions of people still die each year from infectious diseases that are preventable or can be treated.
Outbreaks of cholera, measles and yellow fever can spread rapidly and be fatal. Malaria is endemic in more than 100 countries. Millions are living with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. Viral haemorrhagic diseases such as Ebola or Marburg are rarer, but are potentially fatal. The coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic has affected virtually every country on earth, infecting tens of millions of people and resulting in the death of over a million more.
The people at highest risk are mainly those living in poverty or in areas of great instability, such as in armed conflict or during mass displacement, where living conditions are precarious, access to healthcare is limited, and vaccination coverage is low.
Murky Waters: Why the cholera epidemic in Angola was a disaster waiting to happen
Report17 May 2006
Angola
Access to safe and free water needs to be guaranteed
Press Release17 May 2006
Angola
As the number of infected people reaches 20,000, response to Angola cholera epidemic remains insufficient
Press Release27 Apr 2006
South Sudan
MSF responding to severe cholera outbreak in Juba
Press Release22 Feb 2006
Zambia
Cases still rising in cholera outbreak in Lusaka
Project Update10 Feb 2006
Zimbabwe
Cholera outbreak
Project Update11 Jan 2006
Sudan
Nearly 200,000 people vaccinated against yellow fever in Kordofan, Sudan, in two weeks
Project Update28 Dec 2005
Natural hazards
Natural disasters do not lead to epidemics
Project Update12 Oct 2005
Cholera
Cholera outbreaks across West Africa: MSF sends more staff and supplies
Project Update14 Sep 2005
Research & Analysis
Journal article
MSF publishes study on the accuracy of HIV rapid diagnostic tests
20 Apr 2017
Journal article
Book
Treating, Containing, Mobilizing: The Role of MSF in the West African Ebola Epidemic Response
13 Oct 2016
Book
Haemorrhagic fevers
MSF supported research on Ebola
Report23 Mar 2016
Tuberculosis
New survey shows outdated policies and practices risk further spread of drug-resistant TB
Report2 Dec 2015
Epidemics and pandemics
Epidemics: Neglected emergencies?
Report25 Nov 2015
Haemorrhagic fevers
Ebola: Pushed to the limit and beyond
Report23 Mar 2015
Tuberculosis
DR-TB drugs under the microscope
Report23 Mar 2011
Related topics
Medical activities
Cholera
Although easy to prevent and treat, cholera affects up to 4 million people worldwide per year, resulting in up to 140,000 deaths.
Medical activities
Haemorrhagic fevers
Ebola and Marburg haemorrhagic fevers are rare but deadly. Outbreaks can kill 25 to 90 per cent of those infected, spreading fear and panic among affected communities.
Medical activities
HIV/AIDS
Around 630,000 people died from HIV-related causes, while 1.3 million people became newly infected with the HIV virus in 2022.
Medical activities
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the world’s biggest global health crises. Killing 1.3 million people in 2022 TB is the world’s second deadliest infectious disease after COVID-19 (WHO).
Up Next
Millions of people still die each year from infectious diseases that are preventable or that are easy to treat
