COVID-19

Mediterranean migration: EU states use COVID-19 to shirk search and rescue obligations as MSF ends Ocean Viking partnership

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AMSTERDAM – European governments must stop using the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to enforce deadly migration control policies and must immediately lift the obstacles preventing NGOs from saving lives at sea, says Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in an urgent call today. The plea follows grotesque scenes that played out in the Mediterreanean Sea over the Easter … Read more

COVID-19: Fighting the pandemic

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Our expert teams are aiding the fight against the new coronavirus on four continents. This is MSF’s response in pictures. As an emergency medical organisation, we’ve been fighting disease outbreaks for nearly 50 years. Our battle against COVID-19 began like many of our epidemic responses: by sending medical supplies to the epicentre of the outbreak. More than three tonnes … Read more

Yemen: Authorities must do all they can to facilitate COVID-19 response

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After the first case of coronavirus disease COVID-19 was confirmed in Yemen today, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) are calling for the authorities in Yemen to urgently allow the entrance of supplies and humanitarian staff to the country in order to facilitate a response to the disease. “More personal protective equipment and testing capacity urgently needs to be … Read more

Mumbai: As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, “I hope my treatment can continue and I can be cured.”

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“We spent hundreds of rupees in private health clinics to trying to cure my tuberculosis, but none of the medication worked. The treatment included daily painful injections with lots of side-effects like vomiting, fatigue, loss of appetite… and sometimes even suicide,” says Rabiya, a 27-year-old woman with extremely-drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). She is now a patient … Read more

India: MSF to support Bihar’s COVID-19 response by providing personal protective equipment (PPE)

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New Delhi, India: As the number of people with COVID-19 continues to rise across India, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is supporting the Bihar State Government by providing crucially needed personal protective equipment for frontline healthcare workers. This includes N-95 masks, eye/face protection, gloves and high quality body protection. In addition, viral transport mediums used … Read more

COVID-19: MSF launches our largest ever response in Belgium

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With just over 1,000 deaths from COVID-19 recorded for a population of 11 million, Belgium is one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic, coming close behind Italy and Spain. Despite Belgium’s highly developed health system, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has launched our largest-ever response in the country to support key areas, including infection control in hospitals, care for the … Read more

Northwest Syria: “COVID-19 adds another layer of complexity to an already catastrophic situation”

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Cristian Reynders, field coordinator for MSF operations in northwest Syria, explains what the potential spread of COVID-19 would mean in Idlib and how MSF is preparing for it. Not so long ago, COVID-19 was not yet making headlines worldwide. On the TV news, you’d watch reports on various non-pandemic-related topics. Many of these concerned the … Read more

Italy: COVID-19 pandemic brings new challenges to well-developed healthcare systems

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Dr Claudia Lodesani, MSF president and emergency coordinator for COVID-19 in Italy, explains how our teams can assist her country’s well-developed health system to deal with the new challenge of a pandemic. What can MSF do to help during this COVID-19 crisis? Before, the health services, here in Italy, as in most European countries, were focused on … Read more

“Everybody here is working beyond their limits”: Inside the COVID-19 response in Italy

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MSF medical teams have joined the fight against COVID-19 as the new coronavirus disease spreads to more than 200 countries. Project coordinator Dr Chiara Lepora is overseeing our response in Lodi province, north Italy, where we are supporting three hospitals, as well as aged care facilities in central Italy. She shares her experience working alongside Italian doctors and nurses on the … Read more

COVID-19: MSF steps up COVID-19 response in Europe

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Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has expanded activities in response to COVID-19  in Italy, Spain, Switzerland, France, Norway, Greece and Belgium. Our teams are supporting nursing homes for the elderly, assisting other vulnerable people, such as the homeless and migrants, and providing technical support and training. Describing our COVID-19 response in Europe, Dr Christos … Read more