Stories & News

In Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, recurring outbreaks of cholera and typhoid fever are a pressing health concern. In many of the city’s suburbs, public water supply is unreliable, and leaking sewage pipes, pit latrines, and poor waste management contaminate the groundwater. Using innovative borehole technology and empowering communities to manage their own water points, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has developed a highly effective environmental health toolkit.

After more than a decade of armed conflict, outbreaks of severe malnutrition, malaria, measles and cholera, approximately 1.5 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Borno state now face the spectre of COVID-19. Many live in vastly overcrowded camps with poor water and sanitation facilities, limited supplies of hygiene essentials such as soap and water, and often no individual space at all. Functioning health infrastructure in Borno is scarce, and the capacity to refer patients is extremely limited. 

The United States government must suspend all deportations to Latin America and the Caribbean as these actions are moving people from the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic to countries with lower rates of transmission and will exacerbate a public health crisis in the region.