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About us

Who We Are

Learn about our mission, our charter and principles, and who we are.

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How we work

See what triggers an intervention and how supply and logistics allow our teams to respond quickly.

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How we're run

Discover our governance and what it means to be an association. Find a quick visual guide to our offices around the world.

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Reports and financials

Read through our annual financial and activity reports, and find out about where our funds come from and how they are spent.

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What we do

Médecins Sans Frontières brings medical humanitarian assistance to victims of conflict, natural disasters, epidemics or healthcare exclusion.

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Where we work

In more than 70 countries, Médecins Sans Frontières provides medical humanitarian assistance to save lives and ease the suffering of people in crisis situations.

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MSF Websites

A Global Network
Our offices around the world
Our offices around the world
Other Sites
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Access Campaign

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.

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CRASH

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.

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UREPH

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.

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ARHP

Based in Barcelona, ARHP documents and reflects on the operational challenges and dilemmas faced by the MSF field teams.

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MSF Analysis

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.

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MSF Supply

This logistical and supply centre in Brussels provides storage of and delivers medical equipment, logistics and drugs for international purchases for MSF missions.

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MSF Logistique

This supply and logistics centre in Bordeaux, France, provides warehousing and delivery of medical equipment, logistics and drugs for international purchases for MSF missions.

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Amsterdam Procurement Unit

This logistical centre in Amsterdam purchases, tests, and stores equipment including vehicles, communications material, power supplies, water-processing facilities and nutritional supplements.

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Brazilian Medical Unit

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.

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MSF Medical Guidelines

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.

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Epicentre

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.

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Evaluation Units

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.

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LGBTQI+ Inclusion in Health Settings

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.

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LUXOR

The Luxembourg Operational Research (LuxOR) unit coordinates field research projects and operational research training, and provides support for documentation activities and routine data collection.

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MSF Academy for Healthcare

To upskill and provide training to locally-hired MSF staff in several countries, MSF has created the MSF Academy for Healthcare.

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Humanitarian Law

This Guide explains the terms, concepts, and rules of humanitarian law in accessible and reader-friendly alphabetical entries.

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MSF Paediatric Days

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.

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MSF Foundation

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.

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DNDi

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.

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MSF Science Portal

Our digital portal dedicated to sharing the latest medical evidence from our humanitarian activities around the globe.

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Noma

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.

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TIC

The TIC is aiming to change how MSF works to better meet the evolving needs of our patients.

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Telemedicine

MSF's telemedicine hub aims to overcome geographic barriers for equitable, accessible, and quality patient care.

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Sweden Innovation Unit

Launched in 2012, the MSF Sweden Innovation Unit deploys a human-centered approach for promoting a culture of innovation within MSF.

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Zambia, cholera vaccination in Lusaka

Zambia

MSF closed our last projects, in response to a cholera epidemic, in 2018.

Having first worked in Zambia in 1999, we handed over our medical activities to the Zambian Ministry of Health in 2013. We returned in 2016 and 2018 to support the Ministry of Health in response to outbreaks of cholera

Cholera is a major public health issue in Zambia, with epidemics typically occurring during the rainy season. The outbreak in February 2016 was, however, the first to hit the capital since 2011.

In January 2018, we again supported the Ministry of Health to manage an unusually large number of cases during a cholera outbreak in south Lusaka. We provided 24-hour support at the cholera treatment centre at Chawama hospital, as well as training staff, donating equipment and helping to establish surveillance and referral systems.

In 2018, we also set up nutrition programmes and conducted outpatient consultations for refugees who have sought shelter in Zambia, the majority from southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

In 2018

6,740

6,74

outpatient consultations

490

49

people treated for cholera

1999

1999

Year MSF first worked in the country
 
MSF participates in the fight against a cholera epidemic in the context of a regional outbreak
Zambia

MSF responds to a surge in cholera in Zambia amid regional outbreaks

Project Update 28 Feb 2024
 
Zambia, cholera vaccination in Lusaka
Zambia

Encouraging new results further demonstrate effectiveness of the single dose oral cholera vaccine

Press Release 9 Feb 2018
 
Juba Cholera Vaccination Juillet 2016
Cholera

A promising new one-dose cholera vaccination strategy could save lives during outbreaks

Project Update 20 Oct 2016
 
SLD_Zambia_Cholera-Vacci_03
Zambia

Kicking out cholera with a megaphone

Project Update 21 Apr 2016
 
Zambia, cholera vaccination in Lusaka
Zambia

Largest ever oral cholera vaccination campaign underway in Lusaka

Press Release 9 Apr 2016
 
Journal article

Paediatric Pharmacovigilance: Use of Pharmacovigilance Data Mining Algorithms for Signal Detection in a Safety Dataset of a Paediatric Clinical Study Conducted in Seven African Countries

1 May 2014
Journal article
 
Luwingu, Zambia
Zambia

MSF hands over maternal health programme in Luwingu district

Project Update 17 Sep 2013
 
Zambia

MSF responds to worst cholera outbreak in Zambia in years

Project Update 12 Apr 2010
 
Zambia

MSF responds to serious cholera outbreak in Zambia as the situation deteriorates rapidly in the capital city

Project Update 23 Jan 2009
 
Zambia

Crafting programs in Zambia for limited resources

Interview 13 Jun 2008
 
Zambia

Cholera in Zambia: 'People do not want to talk about it. It's a dirty disease'

Project Update 15 Feb 2006
 
Zambia

Cases still rising in cholera outbreak in Lusaka

Project Update 10 Feb 2006