Doctors Without Borders Helps Those Most in Need
When disaster strikes, Doctors Without Borders is there to help. Each year, the medical humanitarian organization supplies emergency care to millions of individuals in need from crises such as armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, or natural disasters. Roughly 31,000 doctors, nurses, administrators and others hailing from dozens of nations each day give medical care to civilians across more than 70 countries.
“(Doctors Without Borders) is saving a lot of people–children and adults–who might otherwise have died, from malnutrition or from preventable causes. There are no other agencies anywhere near here, and we are the only organization providing assistance–in terms of both health care and food–in this region. We have been doing this for years,” Hussein Sheikh Qassim, MSF medical activities manager in southern Somalia, said.
Also known as Médecins Sans Frontières, the organization targets those most in need, threatened by violence, neglect and catastrophe. MSF aims to protest inadequacies in the system and promote better medical treatments. Guided by the twin principles of humanitarian aid and medical ethics, last year MSF provided approximately:
- 8.3 million outpatient consultations
- Delivered 185,000 babies
- Treated 1.6 million for malaria
- Helped nearly 350,000 malnourished children
- Provided therapy for nearly 280,000 people suffering from HIV/AIDS
- Supplied nearly 700,000 measles vaccinations and
- Performed surgery on 78,500 people.
Another plus-side to MSF, its professionals are hired locally, with international staff only 10 percent of its field teams.
“I’m proud to work for Doctors Without Borders ... We can genuinely look all of our donors in the eye and say, ‘Your money is making a difference; your money is saving lives.’ The physical process of giving birth is the same all over the world. But what’s not the same is access to medical care, trained staff, surgical interventions, drugs, and materials. I believe all women deserve this access and no woman should risk dying during childbirth just because she lives in the ‘wrong’ part of the world. That’s why Doctors Without Borders is so important here. We’re delivering health care to people who need it,” Sam Perkins, MSF midwife, Masisi conflict zone in Democratic Republic of Congo, said.
Founded in 1971 in France by a group of doctors and journalists, it oversees a yearly budget of almost $1 billion. When emergencies occur, MSF hits the ground running – fast. It is typically one of the first humanitarian organizations to get to the scene.
“Before MSF opened its hospital in Marere in July 2003, the region had very few young people, because so many were dying from preventable diseases. Now, if you take a simple walk around the town, you will see many youngsters who maybe wouldn’t be here today if we hadn’t given them immunizations and medical treatment. People jokingly call any child under the age of 11 ‘the MSF generation,’” Sheikh Qassim said.
Doctors Without Borders informs the public about unrecognized crisis by speaking out on topics that may not make the headlines. MSF also conducts medical research through its Epicentre, a research affiliate created in 1987 to address researching better treatments and diagnostics for the diseases the organization fights. MSF’s 'Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines' concentrates on eliminating obstacles that prevent individuals from poorer nations from having access to affordable, effective treatments for diseases from HIV to Malaria.
“I’ve gone on several assignments for Doctors Without Borders, but it has never been in such an acute or violent emergency. Yet I could see that our very presence gave people hope. While we can’t save everyone, or bring an end to the fighting, we can save the lives right in front of us, and let people know they are not alone,” Dr. Cristiana Bertocchi, MSF surgeon from Pittsburgh, PA, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, said
For more information, visit www.doctorswithoutborders.org.
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