MSF News

News List

NATO Statement Endangers Patients in Afghanistan 11 Mar 2010 \| Press Release
MSF strongly objects to a recent statement made by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in which he implies that NGOs should be the “soft power” component to a military strategy. Read more...

DRC: Thousands of displaced civilians trapped by conflict - wounded unable to reach hospitals in Hauts Plateaux, South Kivu
11 Mar 2010 | Press Release

MSF is deeply concerned by the rapidly worsening situation in the isolated area of Hauts Plateaux in the region of Uvira, South Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Thousands of civilians are trapped by conflict that has been raging in the area since the beginning of February 2010 between the Congolese army (FARDC), FDLR rebels and various armed groups. Violence against civilians is frequent, but the constant threat to civilians prevents wounded people from reaching the local hospital where an MSF surgical team is working. Read more...

Fighting kala azar in the Indian state of Bihar
11 Mar 2010 | Article

In Bihar, one of the poorest states of India, kala azar is endemic. It affects mostly rural and remote areas where people often live in dire conditions. “A lot of our patients live in dung houses with their animals around them. They are exposed to sand flies and do not know how to protect themselves. They rarely know about this disease and don’t recognise the first symptoms,” explains MSF doctor Gaurab Mitra who has been involved since the beginning of the project. Read more...

“ The way we treat patients without discrimination is what makes most difference.”
11 Mar 2010 | Interview

MSF has been working for over two years in Bihar state, northern India, treating patients suffering from visceral leishmaniasis or kala azar. MSF, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, provides treatment and care at Hajipur hospital and four primary health centres in Vaishali district along with health education and support to hospitals in eight other districts of Bihar. Read the interview with MSF Doctor Gaurab Mitra, describing the project. Read more...

Treating patients from the lowest caste and the poorest background 11 Mar 2010 \| Interview
"Kala azar is not like other diseases where patients collapse rapidly. With kala azar, patients can stay active for quite a long time so they tend to come very late but without treatment it is fatal. Kala azar weakens their immune system and they often reach us with other infections such as tuberculosis." explains Doctor Ainhoa Vivero who works for MSF kala azar project in Bihar. Read more...

AIDS Care Gap between Europe and Southern Countries Risks Becoming a Chasm 09 Mar 2010 \| Press Release
AIDS leaders gathering in London today face the daunting challenge of implementing new World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations for earlier treatment with better AIDS drug cocktails at a time when donors are backing away from the promise of “universal access”, warns Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Read more...

MSF in Afghanistan: Ahmed Shah Baba in Eastern Kabul
09 Mar 2010 | Article

MSF has been supporting the district hospital of Ahmed Shah Baba in Eastern Kabul since October 2009. The population of Kabul has tripled over the last 10 years. Some people are fleeing conflict torn areas to the relative safety of the capital, others, pushed by poverty, are trying to make a living in Kabul. Read more...

Earthquake in Chile: MSF supporting hospitals, organizing mobile clinics, sending in more supplies by plane
08 Mar 2010 | Article

This past weekend, a team of psychologists arrived in Chile to assist people affected by the earthquake, many of whom are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to our staff. Ongoing tremors in the days following the earthquake have generated widespread panic in the population and made it necessary to pay especially close attention to the psychological impact the disaster had on people in the affected areas.