A woman walks past building damaged by shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine, Sunday, March 13, 2022. The surrounded southern city of Mariupol, where the war has produced some of the greatest human suffering, remained cut off despite earlier talks on creating aid or evacuation convoys.
Crisis Response

Conflict

More than one-third of our humanitarian and medical assistance is for people affected by armed conflict.
More than one-third of our humanitarian and medical assistance is for people affected by armed conflict.

Armed conflict devastates lives. Targeted, harassed and trapped within hardship and poverty; people are often forced into flight. In other cases, people live under siege or in constant fear of indiscriminate or even targeted attacks. In addition, people are often left impoverished without sufficient access to basic needs like food and medical care.
 
Comprehensive medical and humanitarian support is vital, but health services are often scarce. In conflict zones, we do not take sides.

We provide care based on needs alone and work to reach those who require medical attention, regardless of which side of the frontline they happen to be.

War_Health
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Conflict and Health

Conflict and health

HOW DOES CONFLICT DAMAGE NATIONAL HEALTH?

Armed conflict causes injury, displacement and death. Even after the guns have fallen silent, conflict continues to affect people’s health.

It devastates essential health services, disrupts medical supplies, forces medical staff to flee and leaves health systems broken, so when deadly diseases arrive they’re even harder to fight.

For people caught up in violence or its aftermath, it is more important than ever to have access to healthcare, shelter, sanitation and food.

Midwife_iraq
You can still see a lot of anger and pain in people’s eyes wherever you go. ABDULRAHMAN DHANNOON KHALEEL, MSF PROJECT COORDINATOR SUPPORT
IRAQ

Mosul: A city recovering from war

 
Displaced people wait at Tsegay Berhe school, in the city of Adwa in central Tigray. 2021
Armed conflict

Tigray violence scatters people across two countries

Latest News 22 Jun 2021
 
People awaiting treatment in Mozambique
Armed conflict

“They thought the camera was a gun”

Patient and Staff Stories 11 Jun 2021
 
People run away from the vicinity of Al-Sharouk tower as it collapses after being hit by an Israeli air strike, in Gaza City, on May 12, 2021.
Armed conflict

Gaza: “Night and day, what we are living through is terrifying”

Patient and Staff Stories 21 May 2021
 
MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Gaza, Palestine, MSF clinics destroyed
Armed conflict

Gaza: “Inexcusable and intolerable” Israeli air strikes kill scores of civilians, damage MSF clinic

Latest News 17 May 2021
 
MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Palestine, Jerusalem, Gaza, conflict
Armed conflict

Heavy Israeli bombing pushing Gaza to the edge of catastrophe

Press Release 14 May 2021
 
displaced people's camp, Mozambique
Internally Displaced People

Focus on fighting ‘terrorists’ ignores real humanitarian needs in Cabo Delgado

Op-Ed 26 Apr 2021