Stories & News

When a baby is rushed to the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) paediatric team in Herat, Afghanistan, it’s clear that he is dangerously unwell. Paediatrician Prudence Jarrett has recently worked on assignment in Herat and shares the story of a patient who was admitted to the intensive care ward at Herat Regional Hospital.

While struggling to provide lifesaving medical care to an ever-increasing number of young patients, Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams also try to reinforce community-led responses. One example is in Kebbi state, where MSF outreach teams travel the roads to spread the ‘Tom Brown’ recipe.

After more than a year of escalated conflict, the remaining healthcare facilities in Gaza have been pushed to extremes. Israeli forces have now besieged the three largest hospitals in North Gaza, while hundreds of patients and staff remain inside.

Today, the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF), alongside other global health activists, health care implementers and civil society organisations in the ‘Time for $5’ coalition, delivered a petition signed by 206,937 people from 194 countries to US corporation Danaher at its global headquarters in Washington, DC.

Too many children with TB are neither tested nor treated, with many countries failing at the first hurdle: updating policy guidelines in line with WHO recommendations.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been forced to stop outpatient treatment for 5,000 children with acute malnutrition in Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur, Sudan, because the warring parties have blocked deliveries of food, medicines and other essential supplies for months.

As Israeli attacks intensify in Lebanon, healthcare facilities are being forced to close, leading to devastating consequences for civilians and their access to healthcare. MSF urges all warring parties to spare civilians, medical facilities, and medical personnel.

Dr Graham Knottenbelt is an anaesthetist from Auckland (Tāmaki Makaurau) who specialises in paediatric anaesthesia. He has recently completed his third assignment, in South Sudan, which marked a welcome return to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) after assignments in Sri Lanka and Democratic Republic of Congo in 2002-2003.

Dr Trudy Rosenwald, who has worked as a mental health activity manager with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Bangladesh, explains the connection between physical and mental health.

Lebanon is experiencing the most significant escalation of conflict since the 2006 Lebanon War, with close to 1,300 people killed between 16 September and 1 October, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health. The intense Israeli bombardments have forced more than one million people to flee their homes.