We are providing technical support and advice to hospitals in seven hospitals across Belgium to increase the number of patients they can safely treat during the COVID-19 crisis.
Outside of hospitals, mobile teams are providing support to nursing homes for the elderly, including psychological support and training for the staff and assistance in contract tracing for known COVID-19 cases.
We are also providing triage and infection prevention and control support to organisations that work with vulnerable groups of people, such as the homeless and undocumented migrants.
More than 100 full-time MSF staff are supporting COVID-19 projects in Belgium.
Since the closure of the Calais ‘Jungle’ camp in France in October 2016, Belgium has seen a slow but steady rise of migrants and refugees in need of healthcare and mental support.
Médecins Sans Frontières has developed several activities in Belgium to respond to the needs of migrants and refugees. In collaboration with several other organisations, we set up a ‘humanitarian hub’ at the Gare du Nord, near Maximilian Park, in Brussels. Here, vulnerable people are offered a complete package of services, including medical care, contact tracing, legal advice, and housing assistance.
The hub provides medical care, mental health care, legal and social advice, clothes distribution, family tracing, phone charging and phone calls. © Masias / MSF
MSF projects aim to offer mental health counselling to asylum seekers in transit through the country. The MSF teams provide psychosocial support mental health screening, counselling and psychoeducation, as well as cultural briefings and social and recreational activities to reinforce social networks.
Médecins Sans Frontières has been working in Afghanistan since 1980, providing emergency surgical care, responding to conflict and natural disasters, and treating people cut off from healthcare.
MSF worked in Angola from 1983 until 2007. Why were we there? Armed conflict Endemic/Epidemic disease Social violence/Healthcare exclusion
MSF worked in Argentina from 2001 until 2003. Why were we there? Providing essential medicines and supplies
Why are we there? Endemic/epidemic disease Social violence/healthcare exclusion Natural disaster
Why are we there? Armed conflict Endemic/epidemic disease Healthcare exclusion
Why are we there? Armed conflict Healthcare exclusion Natural disaster
MSF worked in Ecuador until 2007. Why were we there? Endemic/Epidemic disease Natural disaster
Why are we there? Armed conflict Endemic/epidemic disease Social violence/heathcare exclusion
Haiti’s healthcare system remains precarious in the wake of natural disasters and ongoing political and economic crises. Ongoing disasters have led to Haiti becoming the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
Why are we there? Armed conflict Social violence Healthcare exclusion Endemic/epidemic disease
An MSF team in Hong Kong opened a project at the end of January focusing on health education for vulnerable people. Community engagement is a crucial activity of any outbreak response and in Hong Kong, this focuses on groups who are less likely to have access to important medical information, such as the socio-economically disadvantaged. The team is also targeting those who are more vulnerable to developing severe disease if they are infected, such as the elderly.
MSF worked in Indonesia between 1995 and 2009 Why were we there? Natural disaster
MSF ended its operations in Liberia in 2012. Why were we there? Endemic/epidemic disease Social violence/healthcare exclusion
Why are we there? Conflict Endemic/epidemic disease Healthcare exclusion
Why are we there? Endemic/epidemic disease Social violence/healthcare exclusion
Why are we there? Providing comprehensive emergency healthcare to people in remote regions of Pakistan is a priority, yet accessibility and security are a constraint for both Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and patients.
MSF worked in Rwanda from 1991 until 2007.
Why were we there? Conflict Healthcare exclusion Endemic/Epidemic disease
Why are we there? Endemic/epidemic disease Healthcare exclusion
Why are we there? Armed conflict Endemic/epidemic disease Healthcare exclusion
Why are we there? Armed conflict Endemic/Epidemic disease Healthcare exclusion
Why are we there? Endemic/epidemic disease Social violence Healthcare exclusion