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About us

Who We Are

Learn about our mission, our charter and principles, and who we are.

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How we work

See what triggers an intervention and how supply and logistics allow our teams to respond quickly.

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How we're run

Discover our governance and what it means to be an association. Find a quick visual guide to our offices around the world.

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Reports and financials

Read through our annual financial and activity reports, and find out about where our funds come from and how they are spent.

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What we do

Médecins Sans Frontières brings medical humanitarian assistance to victims of conflict, natural disasters, epidemics or healthcare exclusion.

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Where we work

In more than 70 countries, Médecins Sans Frontières provides medical humanitarian assistance to save lives and ease the suffering of people in crisis situations.

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MSF Websites

A Global Network
Our offices around the world
Our offices around the world
Other Sites
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Access Campaign

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.

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CRASH

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.

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UREPH

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.

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ARHP

Based in Barcelona, ARHP documents and reflects on the operational challenges and dilemmas faced by the MSF field teams.

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MSF Analysis

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.

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MSF Supply

This logistical and supply centre in Brussels provides storage of and delivers medical equipment, logistics and drugs for international purchases for MSF missions.

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MSF Logistique

This supply and logistics centre in Bordeaux, France, provides warehousing and delivery of medical equipment, logistics and drugs for international purchases for MSF missions.

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Amsterdam Procurement Unit

This logistical centre in Amsterdam purchases, tests, and stores equipment including vehicles, communications material, power supplies, water-processing facilities and nutritional supplements.

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Brazilian Medical Unit

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.

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MSF Medical Guidelines

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.

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Epicentre

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.

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Evaluation Units

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.

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LGBTQI+ Inclusion in Health Settings

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.

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LUXOR

The Luxembourg Operational Research (LuxOR) unit coordinates field research projects and operational research training, and provides support for documentation activities and routine data collection.

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MSF Academy for Healthcare

To upskill and provide training to locally-hired MSF staff in several countries, MSF has created the MSF Academy for Healthcare.

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Humanitarian Law

This Guide explains the terms, concepts, and rules of humanitarian law in accessible and reader-friendly alphabetical entries.

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MSF Paediatric Days

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.

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MSF Foundation

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.

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DNDi

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.

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MSF Science Portal

Our digital portal dedicated to sharing the latest medical evidence from our humanitarian activities around the globe.

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Noma

Noma is a preventable and treatable neglected disease, but 90 per cent of people will die within the first two weeks of infection if they do not receive treatment.

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TIC

The TIC is aiming to change how MSF works to better meet the evolving needs of our patients.

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Telemedicine

MSF's telemedicine hub aims to overcome geographic barriers for equitable, accessible, and quality patient care.

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Sweden Innovation Unit

Launched in 2012, the MSF Sweden Innovation Unit deploys a human-centered approach for promoting a culture of innovation within MSF.

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Home-based care in Burj el-Barajneh refugee camp, Beirut.

Home-based care for refugees in Burj el-Barajneh

Photo Story30 August 2017

In the Burj el-Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp to the south of Beirut, an MSF team provides home-based care to almost 170 elderly and bed-ridden patients living with chronic diseases. The service brings not only medical benefits for the patients, but often also allows a brief moment of human warmth in otherwise very lonely lives.

Home-based care in Burj el-Barajneh refugee camp, Beirut.
In the Burj el-Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp to the south of Beirut, an MSF team provides home-based care to almost 170 elderly and bed-ridden patients living with chronic diseases. The service brings not only medical benefits for the patients, but often also allows a brief moment of human warmth in otherwise very lonely lives.
Bruno De Cock/MSF
Home-based care in Burj el-Barajneh refugee camp, Beirut.
MSF nurse Mahmoud visiting Leila’s house. “In the first weeks, the nursing team visited her almost every day, and the doctor accompanied us as needed, until we stabilised Leila's condition.”
Bruno De Cock/MSF
Home-based care in Burj el-Barajneh refugee camp, Beirut.
Leila Salim Matariyah, 56, suffers from diabetes and hypertension. She can’t see well and has problems taking her insulin. Our medical team had to visit her almost on daily basis the first week, until her condition became stable. Now she takes her medicine regularly and follows her diet.
Bruno De Cock/MSF
Home-based care in Burj el-Barajneh refugee camp, Beirut.
The medical team had to visit Leila on an almost daily basis the first week, until her condition became stable. Now she takes her medicine regularly and follows her diet.
Bruno De Cock/MSF
Home-based care in Burj el-Barajneh refugee camp, Beirut.
Home-based care in Burj el-Barajneh refugee camp, Beirut.
Amina Hamadi, 78, has diabetes and was suffering from loneliness and depression. Her physical illness and immobility had greatly affected her – especially as she believed people were tired of helping her. Today, Amina is smiling. In collaboration with the mental health support team, her depression has reduced.
Bruno De Cock/MSF
Home-based care in Burj el-Barajneh refugee camp, Beirut.
“When we visit a patient and she welcomes us with a smile on her face, and a twinkle in her eyes, this is success for me. It is very important that the patient feels happiness, security and trust with us.” Rached, 32, is a MSF nurse. He has been helping Amin.
Bruno De Cock/MSF
Home-based care in Burj el-Barajneh refugee camp, Beirut.
For people who have lost their loved ones, live alone in displacement camps, and have experienced unemployment, disease, destitution, and loneliness, the medical staff have become like family.
Bruno De Cock/MSF
Home-based care in Burj el-Barajneh refugee camp, Beirut.
MSF nurse Amal is helping Amira Al-Hassiri, 80. She has been bedridden for seven years and suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure. “They always visit me and measure my diabetes level and blood pressure. God bless them,” says Amira.
Bruno De Cock/MSF
Home-based care in Burj el-Barajneh refugee camp, Beirut.
Amina Banat, 84, lives with her two granddaughters. She has been suffering from high blood pressure for six years and broke her leg six months ago. The MSF nursing team visits her regularly to measure her blood pressure and sugar levels, and to make sure she doesn’t have any complications or permanent disability. MSF also trains Amina’s granddaughters on some exercises to help her.
Bruno De Cock/MSF
Home-based care in Burj el-Barajneh refugee camp, Beirut.
“When they visit me I feel better. They visit me two or three times a week. I tell them that I’m out of my medication and they get it for me,” says Amina Banat.
Bruno De Cock/MSF
Home-based care in Burj el-Barajneh refugee camp, Beirut.
After their morning round, the team returns to the health centre where MSF is providing reproductive and mental health services for individuals and groups. The organisation’s community-based activities also include health awareness sessions and group psychosocial support for the elderly, as well as for other groups in the community.
Bruno De Cock/MSF