Stories & News

Imagine the difference it could make if African countries that are facing waves of COVID-19 infections didn't have to rely on imports of vaccines. How many more people in developing countries could be vaccinated if countries could produce them themselves?

August 2021 marks four years since the 2017 campaign of targeted violence by the Myanmar military waged against the Rohingya in Rakhine State. The stateless Rohingya people have been subjected to discrimination and denied basic rights and adequate access to services, including healthcare. Approximately 900,000 refugees are now living in Bangladesh. 

Dr Salih M. Auwal is a Médecins Sans Frontières doctor and COVID-19 focal clinician working at Shinkafi clinic in Zamfara state, northwest Nigeria, where we provide care for malaria, sexual violence and other health needs.

Here, Dr Awaul explains why he and other health professionals in Nigeria urgently need global support to protect people from COVID-19, as they face the country’s third wave of infections.

More than a week after Haiti's latest earthquake destroyed his home and fractured the bones of his leg, Widnika—just two years and seven months old—sleeps in a bed at MSF's Tabarre hospital in Port-au-Prince, with his mother Widline beside him. 

In the wake of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the future of many essential aid and healthcare programs is uncertain. 

Médecins Sans Frontières staff Christopher Stokes and Jonathan Whittall discuss how the organisation's principles of neutrality, independence and impartiality have been the foundation of current work in Afghanistan—and how essential these principles are going forward. 

Every year, thousands of people fleeing war, persecution and poverty at home attempt the treacherous journey across the Mediterranean. Since the beginning of 2021, nearly 1,000 people have been reported dead or missing on world’s deadliest sea border. 

To help save the lives of people trying to cross the central Mediterranean Sea, Médecins Sans Frontières has chartered its own vessel, the Geo Barents, to conduct search and rescue missions.

In the days since Haiti's 7.2 magnitude earthquake on 14 August, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams have been conducting exploratory missions and providing critical aid to those most affected.

Xavier Kernizan is an orthopedic surgeon based in MSF's Tabarre hospital in Port-au-Prince, who has been working with an MSF surgical team in Jérémie providing emergency care to those injured by the earthquake. Here he discusses the situation on the ground.

In May 2021, Gaza was enveloped in a new wave of violence. As the bombs fell, doctors Mohammed Abu Mughaisib and Natalie Thurtle were coordinating medical activities in the territory. They reflect on their very different experiences…

On Saturday 14 August 14, at 8:30 am local time, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake rocked the southern peninsula of Haiti, causing extensive damage to buildings, houses, and main access roads in the three provinces of Grand'Anse, Nippes and Sud.

The provisional death toll is estimated at more than 1,300 with more than 5,700 people injured, according to Haitian authorities. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams are conducting exploratory missions and are providing critical aid to those most affected.

Conflict has been steadily increasing in Afghanistan throughout 2021, with the region becoming increasingly insecure since announcements in April of US and NATO forces withdrawing their troops. With these troops gone, Afghan forces and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan—also known as the Taliban—are fighting for territory in clashes that continue to claim thousands of lives while crippling public infrastructure. 

MSF staff continue to treat patients in Afghanistan, adapting to the increasingly fragile situation and performing lifesaving surgery on victims of the violence.