MSF Australia and MSF New Zealand

In 2021, with your support, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) worked beside people in need and among disease outbreaks, attacks on humanitarian staff, patients and medical facilities and unequal access to healthcare.

From Tigray and Afghanistan to the developing impacts of COVID-19 and the climate, 2021 was a year of incredible complexity for people facing crisis and those working alongside them.

For more information on all of the countries supported by Médecins Sans Frontières Australia in 2021, please download the full report.

Read the report

Your support in action

In 2021, the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Médecins Sans Frontières Australia was able to continue its strong support of our medical humanitarian projects providing funding, staff, advocacy and medical expertise across an increasingly distressed planet.

As we continued to advocate for fairer access to COVID-19 treatments and tools, our teams opened COVID-19 treatment centres to care for patients, ran prevention activities and vaccinated high-risk groups of people in some countries; Australian and New Zealand donors supported these vaccination campaigns in Lebanon, Uganda and Eswatini.

From the emergence of malaria in places it was not seen before, to the third consecutive year of floods to hit northern South Sudan, the climate crisis continued to threaten the resilience of communities and health systems, increasing people’s need for access to care in many of the countries where we work.

In 2021, our fundraising activities generated a total of $105.5 million, mostly through the regular donations made by our field partners and the generosity of our major donors. These donations directly funded projects in 35 countries worldwide, with Niger, Yemen, Sudan, Papua New Guinea, and Malawi, receiving the largest contributions.

Through the efforts of our Field Human Resources department, Australian and New Zealand field workers filled a total of 113 field positions in 36 countries.

Papua New Guinea

In Papua New Guinea (PNG), MFS focused on improving tuberculosis (TB) care, particularly for patients with drug resistant forms of the disease.

In the PNG capital, Port Moresby, activities in the Six Mile district were expanded after we noticed that a significant proportion of new multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) patients were coming from this area. We implemented activities to curb the spread of the disease by screening contacts of confirmed TB patients and offering them preventive treatment. We also assisted with the rehabilitation of government facilities and the construction of a new TB clinic and laboratory.

Niger

MSF scaled up activities in Niger in 2021 in response to the volatile humanitarian situation, caused by conflict, internal displacement, chronic food insecurity and disease outbreaks.

In Niger, floods, droughts and agricultural shortfalls exacerbated food insecurity and people often struggled to access basic services, including healthcare. Throughout the year, MSF supported the health authorities’ responses to epidemics and floods in Maradi, Zinder, Niamey and Dosso regions, as well as vaccination campaigns against measles, meningitis and cholera.

Malawi

Despite progress in tackling HIV, prevalence of the disease remains high in Malawi.

In 2021, MSF continued to run programs to improve care for HIV patients, as well as for women with cervical cancer, developing a comprehensive oncological program in close collaboration with the Malawian Ministry of Health offering screening, diagnosis and treatment for cervical cancer, which accounts for 40 per cent of all cancers among women in Malawi and kills over 2,000 each year.

Sudan

Sudan’s military takeover at the end of October 2021 prompted massive demonstrations across the country.

In response to the violent crackdowns, we launched a mass-casualty plan to support hospitals. MSF teams in Omdurman, a city close to the capital Khartoum, worked in emergency rooms, training staff in mass-casualty planning and donated medical supplies. When COVID-19 cases rose during the year, we ran health promotion activities in communities south of Khartoum.

Yemen

As the war in Yemen entered its seventh year in 2021, civilians continued to bear the brunt of the fighting. Many were injured, killed or displaced in clashes between the various groups.

MFS not only provided lifesaving care to people injured in these outbreaks of violence, but also treated patients suffering the long-term effects of war, such as mental health conditions, malnutrition and difficulties in accessing essential services such as mother and child healthcare.

How your donations were spent

Approximately 109,136 Australians and New Zealanders participated in the field partner program in 2021, contributing on a monthly basis to Médecins Sans Frontières Australia and Médecins Sans Frontières New Zealand, and another 44,671 provided occasional gifts.