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.
Nearly 90 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced at the end of 2021, and over 100 million people are estimated to be displaced in 2022, according to UNHCR.
The number of people who have been forcibly displaced is now more than double the number 10 years ago, and the most since World War II. There are many reasons for flight, including war, persecution, conflict, natural disaster, destitution and repression.
With health and well-being jeopardized, the lives of the most vulnerable can be at risk. The majority are internally displaced people (IDPs), meaning they haven't crossed a border and have stayed within their country.
MSF teams work alongside people on the move at their points of arrival or during the treacherous journeys they undertake, inside and outside their countries.
MSF asks that Iranian authorities remove obstacles to aid operations in Afghanistan
Press Release5 Dec 2001
Afghanistan
MSF opens programmes for displaced Afghans inside Afghanistan
Press Release9 Nov 2001
Refugees, IDPs and people on the move
MSF sends a medical team to Christmas Island
Press Release29 Aug 2001
Refugees, IDPs and people on the move
Criminals...like rats running away
Project Update23 Jul 2001
Refugees, IDPs and people on the move
Lancet: Refugees - Documenting violence against refugees
Project Update5 May 2001
Refugees, IDPs and people on the move
Military involvement in refugee crises: a positive evolution?
Project Update5 May 2001
Related topics
Crisis Settings
War and conflict
More than one third of our humanitarian and medical assistance is for people affected by armed conflict.
In Focus
Central American migration
An estimated 500,000 people a year flee violence and poverty in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, heading north through Mexico to find safety. The levels of violence in the region are comparable to that of war zones MSF has worked in for decades.
In Focus
Mediterranean migration
Every year, thousands of people fleeing war, persecution and poverty at home attempt the treacherous journey across the Mediterranean. Countless lives are lost on the way.
In Focus
Rohingya refugee crisis
Legally stateless, with very limited options or rights in any country where they have sought refuge, the Rohingya are extremely vulnerable.
