Learn about how, why, and where MSF teams respond to different diseases around the world, and the challenges we face in providing treatment.
![medicine for the treatment of drug resistant tuberculosis medicine for the treatment of drug resistant tuberculosis](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/71te2rv50p3uw66m400yi4t5r5o213r2.jpg)
Antibiotic resistance
Antibiotic resistance is a serious and growing phenomenon in contemporary medicine and has emerged as one of the pre-eminent public health concerns of the 21st century.
![Sierra Leone - Barriers to accessing health care 2022 Sierra Leone - Barriers to accessing health care 2022](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/t051enj3ffh1o1wl65g8k32elms16l11.jpg)
Child health
Around the world, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams are working to protect the health of children.
![Tshwane Cholera Response Tshwane Cholera Response](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/pnh64i10t782l445djehjynu6g57x3us.jpg)
Cholera
Although easy to prevent and treat, cholera affects up to 4 million people worldwide per year, resulting in up to 140,000 deaths.
![Khayelitsha Vaccination Campaign Khayelitsha Vaccination Campaign](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/8hox5382tf8sj50n37tatv0gynxl0380.jpg)
Coronavirus
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, most of which are harmless for humans. However, two types can cause severe lung infections. MSF is currently responding to a worldwide coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19
![WANGATA EBOLA TREATMENT CENTRE WANGATA EBOLA TREATMENT CENTRE](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/a25ll2kmly32j4b04y415idd2sy260lx.jpg)
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.
![Bending the Curve - Machar Colony Hepatitis C Bending the Curve - Machar Colony Hepatitis C](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/f331x704m8yp28j83s500ba10540hbj3.jpg)
Hepatitis C
Worldwide, an estimated 58 million people are infected with the hepatitis C virus, with about 1.5 million new infections occurring per year. While hepatitis C can be cured, few people have access to treatment.
![MSF nursing team supervisor administers hepatitis E vaccine MSF nursing team supervisor administers hepatitis E vaccine](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/48e75583aav28ocp714ek02gbhf5o160.jpg)
Hepatitis E
Hepatitis E is transmitted by ingesting water contaminated by an infected person’s faeces. Outbreaks are often documented in places with poor sanitation, like camps for refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs). Hepatitis E commonly causes only a mild short-term illness.
![Malawi: supporting sex workers to access healthcare Malawi: supporting sex workers to access healthcare](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/l5igfw3r4m6hve0j8os1xh5rfqpsnf52.jpg)
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.
![20 years providing live-saving treatment to Kala azar patients in Abdurafi 20 years providing live-saving treatment to Kala azar patients in Abdurafi](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/2a1q47kmj7846ytgaar2p8o31t602y66.jpg)
Kala azar
Hundreds of millions of people are at risk of infection with kala azar - one of the world's most dangerous parasitic diseases. Only malaria is more deadly.
![Larviciding using biological insecticides Larviciding using biological insecticides](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/22n086nvn0pt88rg1jno7p815i4x3f41.jpg)
Malaria
Each year, malaria kills over 600,000 people. Three-quarters of all deaths are children under five years of age.
![Sudanese refugees in Adre, February 2024 Sudanese refugees in Adre, February 2024](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/61g5fnm466isx72oh066463y5q575la0.jpg)
Malnutrition
More than 224 million children around the world last year suffered from malnutrition. It is the underlying contributing factor in nearly half of the deaths of children under five years of age.
![Measles Vaccination Campaign in Brussels Measles Vaccination Campaign in Brussels](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/87210lo58k6816cf5g00187804004m41.jpg)
Measles
In 2023, our teams vaccinated 3.3 million people against measles in response to outbreaks. But the highly contagious viral disease remains one of the leading killers of young children.
![Cholera intervention in South Kivu Cholera intervention in South Kivu](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/yo3f8n03541367opu87g87240430ha2w.jpg)
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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