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.
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.
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.
Teams expand action and, to date, over 200 tonnes of goods have been brought to Banda Aceh.
Project Update4 January 2005
On Monday January 3, MSF conducted three helicopter trips to Lamno and Lampe-Ngo on the western coast of Aceh, on the north Sumatra clastline of Indonesia.
Two medical teams remained on the ground to set up mobile clinics, bringing supplies and food for the population. For the first time, MSF teams spent the night in the villages on the western coast, in order to get a more complete picture of the population's needs and to have hands-on contacts with these isolated and traumatised communities.
In Lamno, around 11,000 displaced people are living in six camps. Here, around 75% of the population is reported to have died in the tsunami. MSF is currently conducting medical consultations from a shop and is witnessing an urgent need for water and sanitation facilities since most of the wells have been flooded with salt water.
In Lampe-Ngo, MSF found around 3,000 displaced. People told the MSF team that around 80% of the population had disappeared during the tsunami. Some wounded people remaining are in need of minor surgery. The need for food is also high. Until now, the people have been drying and eating the rice that was under water.
MSF has also been continuing its assessments by car along the east coast. At Sigli hospital, the staff was so overwhelmed that the MSF doctors stayed to help out. The hospital is full of wounded people, many of whom are in need of surgery and are suffering from severe trauma. The lack of staff and material is compounded by poor sanitation.
MSF has decided to send in a surgical team which will arrive today (Tuesday January 4) in the hospital. The sanitary situation in 14 displaced camps around Sigli is alarming. MSF will boost the team with water and sanitation staff and two mobile clinic teams. Meanwhile,
In Banda Aceh the mobile clinic team returned to Cot Keung, where 228 consultations were given. The most common pathologies were respiratory tract infections, skin diseases, diarrhoea and wounds.
Our team referred three injured patients to Fakine hospital. In one displacement camp, a washing area was built, along with garbage management (including mobilising the displaced to help with the clean up operation).
Construction of a disinfection point for people collecting the corpses has also begun, but a staff training was postponed until enough staff have been found to man the post. Like the day before, MSF provided a small donation of body bags.
Today, the Greenpeace boat 'Rainbow Warrior' will arrive from Medan to support MSF logistically. Another cargo flight with rice, gas, jerry cans and more medical supplies is also expected. In addition, 12 tons of cargo from Belgium arrived on January 3, mostly medical and logistic supplies. The total quantity of supplies that MSF has brought into Banda Aceh is now almost 200 tonnes. On Tuesday, MSF has in total 57 staff in Aceh, 38 of them Indonesian.
