“Life in Raqqa was terrifying. During the day we lived with the government’s airstrikes; at night there were coalition airstrikes”

“I was a paediatric doctor in Syria, married with two children. We lived in Raqqa, now known as the stronghold of ISIS. I ran a private clinic in a poor area of the city, as well as providing free healthcare to displaced people who had fled there from Homs and Aleppo.” Voices from the Field - 15 Dec 2015

Tanzania

“People cope with these tough living conditions because often they haven’t known anything else.”

Dr Alfonso Apollinar is part of MSF’s emergency team responding to the refugee crisis in Tanzania, where more than 118,000 Burundians have fled to camps across the border. He describes the conditions in the increasingly overburdened camps Voices from the Field - 9 Dec 2015

Chad

I had never before seen these types of injuries”

Dr Silas Adamou Moussa is Deputy Head of Mission for MSF in Chad. He is part of the team who was deployed to Mani to assist wounded following the suicide attacks that took place on Koulfoua Island on the morning of 5 December. Voices from the Field - 8 Dec 2015

Syria

Bombing & fighting threaten provision of medical care & humanitarian aid, MSF warns

n upsurge in fighting and bombing over the past week in northern Syria’s Azaz district, near the Turkish border, is jeopardising medical activities in the few hospitals and health posts that are still functioning, says international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), warning that it may be forced to close its own hospital in the Aleppo province. Press Release - 7 Dec 2015

Chad

Deadly attack on Koulfa Island

A triple suicide attack that took place on the island of Koulfa in the Lake Chad area in Chad on Saturday morning has reportedly killed 30 people and wounded up to 200. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams present in the area have immediately mobilised to provide support to the Chadian Ministry of Health. Project Update - 7 Dec 2015

Yemen

Nine wounded in Saudi-led coalition airstrike on MSF clinic in Taiz

On 2 December, three air strikes targeted a park in Taiz city’s Al Houban district, 2 km from MSF’s clinic. The MSF team immediately evacuated the clinic and informed the Saudi-led coalition that their jet planes were mounting an attack nearby. The clinic itself came under attack. The wounded, two of them with critical injuries, were transferred to Al Qaidah and Al Resalah hospitals. MSF supports both hospitals in treating war-wounded patients. Press Release - 3 Dec 2015

Kyrgyzstan - Decentralized care for TB patients

Tuberculosis

New survey shows outdated policies and practices risk further spread of drug-resistant TB

Urgent phase-out needed for outdated policies of mandatory hospitalisation, re-treatment regimens that contribute to drug resistance, and sub-optimal diagnosis Report - 2 Dec 2015

Yemen

MSF provides help to people affected by the cyclones in the province of Hadramaut

Two cyclones in one week hit the southeast coast of Yemen early November and did major damage. Hundreds of families have lost their homes in the provinces of Hadramaut. In Moukalla, the main city of the governorate, small houses have not withstood the tornado, torrents of water spilled into the city and destroyed bridges and infrastructures. Project Update - 1 Dec 2015

Syria

Double-tap bombing on MSF-supported hospital – hospital partially destroyed – patients under treatment died in transit

A double-tap barrel bombing on Saturday 28 November on an MSF supported hospital in a besieged zone in northern Homs governorate, Syria, has caused 7 deaths, the partial destruction of the hospital and an influx of 47 wounded patients needing to be transferred to nearby field hospitals, some of whom died en route. Project Update - 1 Dec 2015

MSF Speaking Out

MSF and the War in the Former Yugoslavia 1991-2003

In this case study, MSF reveals the constraints, questions and dilemmas inherent to its public positioning in the context of a conflict marked by ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and repeated attacks on humanitarian action. Speaking Out Case Studies - 1 Dec 2015

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

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.

Learn more

About Us

What we do

Where we work

MSF Websites