Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic

RESPONDING TO COVID-19: Global Accountability Report - March to May 2020

10 August 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented health crisis on a global scale. Since early 2020, it has put tremendous strain on healthcare systems, disrupted economies, and halted large parts of social life in many countries around the world.

In a race against the fast-spreading virus and rapidly increasing patient numbers, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) scaled-up its global response from early January, committing substantial resources to both developing dedicated COVID-19 projects and maintaining essential healthcare in its existing programs.

In countries where robust health systems exist, our operational focus is in offering its expertise in handling complex emergencies and advising on public health approaches, taking pressure off overstretched health facilities, ensuring healthcare workers are protected, and caring for vulnerable populations.

In conflict zones, in humanitarian crises, and in low-resource settings with fragile health systems, our priority is to ensure medical teams can provide life-saving care and safely manage potential COVID-19 patients.

Our focus is also on maintaining or adapting crucial medical activities such as treatment for HIV and tuberculosis, patients' measles vaccination campaigns, malaria prevention, and the fight against other infectious disease outbreaks such as cholera or Ebola.

Counselor Educator Nader Owidat is conducting a COVID-19 health promotion activity with children in Masafer Yatta, a collection of 19 Palestinian hamlets in the Hebron Governorate (West Bank).
Counselor Educator Nader Owidat is conducting a COVID-19 health promotion activity with children in Masafer Yatta, a collection of 19 Palestinian hamlets in the Hebron Governorate (West Bank).
MSF

Our focus is also on maintaining or adapting crucial medical activities such as treatment for HIV and tuberculosis, patients' measles vaccination campaigns, malaria prevention, and the fight against other infectious disease outbreaks such as cholera or Ebola.

In March, we created the COVID-19 Crisis Fund, to raise urgently needed funds for both its dedicated COVID-19 programmes and to mitigate the potentially severe impact on existing health services.

The fund seeks to raise 150 million euros (R 3 102 720 000,00), which will be used to cover direct and indirect costs related to COVID-19 throughout 2020 and 2021. By late July, just over 99 million euros (R 2 047 174 958,07) had been raised.

This report is the first in a series of accountability reports and operational snapshots offering insight into our global COVID-19 response, highlighting activities and outcomes, documenting expenditures, and shedding light on challenges faced in accessing and supplying communities with essential medicines and supplies.

The 60-bed Khayelitsha Field Hospital was developed by MSF to support the nearby Khayelitsha District Hospital. Western Cape, South Africa
The 60-bed Khayelitsha Field Hospital was developed by MSF to support the nearby Khayelitsha District Hospital to cope with the pressures of peak COVID-19 transmission in the Western Cape, South Africa. 
MSF/Rowan Pybus

Covering the period from March to May 2020 and tracing some earlier activities back to the beginning of the year, this report provides an account of how MSF projects around the globe have shifted gears to accelerate outbreak preparedness and adapt their projects in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (see Chapter 4).

The fifth chapter looks at key data from MSF activities in Europe– the epicentre of the pandemic from March to late May. Chapter six then discusses our approach in managing the major staffing, logistics, supply, and financial challenges of responding to COVID-19.

The second report on MSF‘s global COVID-19 response is scheduled for publication in October and will cover activities from June to August. A third report will be released in early 2021, reviewing the remaining months of the year.

Download the Global Accountability Report - March to May 2020