MSF reinforces their teams in Palestinian Authority

Following the unexpected violent confrontations since September 29 in both Jerusalem and the autonomous Palestinian Authority, MSF has decided to send an additional medical team as well as medical supplies. Project Update - 10 Oct 2000

HIV/AIDS

WHO's "massive effort" is not aggressive enough, says MSF

WHO's new "Massive Effort" to address HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria is based on a faulty premise, according to comments made today by Médecins Sans Frontières at the United Nations Geneva headquarters. Press Release - 4 Oct 2000

Mental health

Exploring the limits of humanitarian aid

When we look back on 1999, we shall inevitably think about how, even at the end of the 20th century, global society has failed to secure basic respect for human beings and human dignity on any continent of the world. Project Update - 3 Oct 2000

Diarrhoeal disease

How diarrhoea kills

Diarrhoea causes a person to lose both water and electrolytes. Electrolytes are the salts such as sodium and potassium which are essential to the functioning of every cell in the body. If vomiting accompanies the diarrhoea then these losses are accelerated. Project Update - 28 Sep 2000

Pneumonia

How pneumonia kills

Often pneumonia starts as a simple cold which goes down onto the chest. There, the virus causes inflammation of the lung tissue, and this allows any bacteria that are there to get past the local immune defences and set up a secondary infection. Project Update - 28 Sep 2000

Pneumonia

How MSF teams treat pneumonia patients

MSF nurses teach the mothers how to perform simple chest physiotherapy on their children. Project Update - 28 Sep 2000

Malnutrition

How MSF teams treat malnourished children

Children found to be less than 70% of the expected weight for their height are defined as severely malnourished. MSF teams admit them to a therapeutic feeding centre, where they receive intensive care. Project Update - 28 Sep 2000

Haemorrhagic fevers

Ebola: The start

In 1976, in the north of what was then called Zaire, there was an outbreak of a new and deadly disease. It caused high fever, a rash, and bleeding from the internal organs. The disease moved for a while along the banks of the Ebola River, killing almost every person it struck. Then it disappeared again, as mysteriously as it had arrived. Project Update - 28 Sep 2000

Haemorrhagic fevers

How ebola kills

The Ebola virus must hide somewhere between outbreaks, but no-one has yet discovered where - it may be in monkeys or some other animal host, or it may be in healthy human carriers. Once an outbreak does occur the virus is spread from person to person via blood and bodily secretions. Project Update - 28 Sep 2000

Tuberculosis

How TB kills

It is estimated that up to one third of the world's population may be infected with the tubercule bacillus. Most of these people, however, do not have active TB. Their infection is latent, and may remain so for their whole life, not causing any symptoms. Project Update - 28 Sep 2000

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.

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