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.

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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

 
MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Mozambique, Conflict, Cabo Delgado
Armed conflict

Cabo Delgado, Mozambique: “I lost everything, including my eldest son”

Patient and Staff Stories 16 Apr 2021
 
MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Mozambique, Conflict, Cabo Delgado
Armed conflict

Cabo Delgado, Mozambique: “We were scared in Palma, we lived in fear”

Patient and Staff Stories 16 Apr 2021
 
MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Mozambique, Conflict, Mental Health
Armed conflict

Mozambique: “People ran into the bush to save their lives”

Patient and Staff Stories 6 Apr 2021
 
MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Mozambique, Palma, Cabo Delgado
Armed conflict

Mozambique: Communities left terrified after violent attacks in Palma, Cabo Delgado

Press Release 31 Mar 2021
 
A picture of a destroyed classroom at Tsegay Berhe school in Adwa, central Tigray.
Internally Displaced People

Ethiopia: Tigray’s cities fill with displaced people fleeing insecurity and in need of aid

Latest News 29 Mar 2021
 
Attacks on healthcare facilities in Tigray, Ethiopia
Armed conflict

Health facilities targeted in Ethiopia’s Tigray region

Latest News 15 Mar 2021