Project updates

Lebanon: “The explosion did not distinguish between its victims and neither should the aid response”

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On 4 August 2020, a massive explosion caused by chemicals stored in a warehouse at the port in Beirut, Lebanon, left widespread destruction throughout the city, with thousands of people homeless. Teams from Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) have been providing assistance.  One month after the explosion that rocked Beirut, Jonathan Whittall, former MSF emergency coordinator in … Read more

DRC Ebola outbreak: Responding to new Ebola outbreak in Équateur province

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On 1 June 2020, a new Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak was declared in Équateur province, western Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the country’s eleventh recorded epidemic. Declared while DRC was still grappling with the tenth Ebola epidemic in the country’s northeast, and amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, this new Ebola outbreak in DRC has already spread to 11 health zones in the … Read more

Syria: “In Al-Hol camp, almost no healthcare is available and the consequences are devastating”

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As numbers of patients with COVID-19 grow in northeast Syria, the pandemic is having a knock-on impact on other health services in a region where some 700,000 people are displaced from their homes. MSF emergency manager for Syria Will Turner describes the situation across the region and in Al-Hol camp for displaced people, where more than 65,000 people, … Read more

Bangladesh: Rohingya refugees remain in limbo three years after mass exodus

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“Spending our lives in the camps is difficult; the area is small and there is no space for the children to play,” says Abu Siddik. He lives in one of the camps in the Cox’s Bazar district of southeastern Bangladesh, where around 860,000 Rohingya refugees are crammed into just 26 square kilometres of land. “I left Myanmar because … Read more

Lebanon: MSF provides medical and mental health support to Beirut’s most affected communities

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A week after the devastating blast that took place in Beirut, Lebanon on 4th August 2020, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is carrying out an emergency response to provide medical support to the people most impacted by the explosion. MSF’s activities cover three main areas of intervention: wound care for people still suffering from injuries, continuity of care for chronic … Read more

Iraq: Yazidi community suffers one crisis after another

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The COVID-19 pandemic is having a profound impact on the Yazidi community in the Sinjar district of northwest Iraq. Although there are not many cases recorded in the area, the restrictive measures adopted in Iraq (as in many other countries worldwide) to curb the spread of the virus are burdening the daily lives and well being of an … Read more

Bihar: Providing mental healthcare for COVID-19 patients

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Medical teams at MSF’s COVID-19 treatment centre in Bihar experience various challenges during the process of providing care to patients everyday. Doctors and nurses have to constantly fight not just the disease but also fear, stigma and misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the help of our counsellors and health educators, we are helping … Read more

Lebanon: MSF supporting Beirut’s health services in wake of massive blast

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On 4 August 2020, a powerful blast ripped through the port warehouses near central Beirut in Lebanon, after highly explosive material that was being stored there ignited. Over 100 people have been killed and nearly 5,000 thousand injured. Teams from Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) are assessing the needs of hospitals and emergencies services in … Read more

Iraq: MSF works on dual front of COVID-19 and lifesaving medical care in Mosul

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Iraq has long suffered from war and political instability. The most recent conflict ended in 2017, when Mosul was recaptured after almost three years under the control of the Islamic State (IS) group. Three years later, the consequences of the conflicts in Mosul are still evident. One is the terrible impact on medical care, as many health facilities … Read more

South Africa: Western Cape begins to breathe after COVID-19 peak

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On 1 June, the day Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) opened Khayelitsha Field Hospital, 1,730 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in South Africa’s Western Cape. To relieve the immense pressure on the Khayelitsha District Hospital, 17 patients were transferred to the field hospital on that first day. At one point during the period of … Read more