Posts tagged doctors without borders

Photo:Ain el-Helweh in Saida is the largest camp hosting Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Lebanon 2013 © Aurelie Lachant/MSF. From Damascus to Ain el-Helweh: Palestinians in Syria Flee to Lebanon “I’m deeply sad inside, but I need to appear strong in front of my family,” says a man called Mahmood while sitting in the narrow room he now shares with his wife and six-year-old son in the Ain el-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp in Saida, Lebanon. Until almost two months ago, he’d been living in another camp for Palestinians, this one in Damascus, but the conflict in Syria had made it impossible to stay. “It’s very difficult,” he says. “Seven of my relatives were killed by the bombings and shootings in Syria. We saw their mutilated bodies. I buried them myself and buried my neighbors too. My son disappeared. One month later, my brother disappeared. I’m sure they got killed and this is causing me a lot of sadness.”

Photo:Ain el-Helweh in Saida is the largest camp hosting Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Lebanon 2013 © Aurelie Lachant/MSF.

From Damascus to Ain el-Helweh: Palestinians in Syria Flee to Lebanon

“I’m deeply sad inside, but I need to appear strong in front of my family,” says a man called Mahmood while sitting in the narrow room he now shares with his wife and six-year-old son in the Ain el-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp in Saida, Lebanon. Until almost two months ago, he’d been living in another camp for Palestinians, this one in Damascus, but the conflict in Syria had made it impossible to stay.

“It’s very difficult,” he says. “Seven of my relatives were killed by the bombings and shootings in Syria. We saw their mutilated bodies. I buried them myself and buried my neighbors too. My son disappeared. One month later, my brother disappeared. I’m sure they got killed and this is causing me a lot of sadness.”

Photo: A transit camp near the Turkish border. Syria 2013 © Anna Surinyach/MSF 10,000 Syrians Seek Shelter Near Turkish Border Several months ago, Hussein Alwawi was living in Aleppo with his family. But, he recalls, “A warplane attacked our neighborhood and lots of houses were destroyed, including ours. We were not at home at the time, but two families were killed.” Five days later, he and his family set out towards Syria’s border with Turkey. They found an ad hoc settlement that now hosts some 10,000 displaced Syrians, more than double the number who’d been there at the beginning of the year. While it is officially known as a “transit camp,” it would be more accurate to call it a camp for internally displaced people, or IDPs. Driven from their homes by the war, most of these IDPs now live in tents set up in a field formerly occupied by a customs office, though Alwawi and his family found sanctuary inside a mosque. In a quest to create some sense of normalcy, people have set up barbershops and foodstalls, even a school for the children.

Photo: A transit camp near the Turkish border. Syria 2013 © Anna Surinyach/MSF

10,000 Syrians Seek Shelter Near Turkish Border

Several months ago, Hussein Alwawi was living in Aleppo with his family. But, he recalls, “A warplane attacked our neighborhood and lots of houses were destroyed, including ours. We were not at home at the time, but two families were killed.”

Five days later, he and his family set out towards Syria’s border with Turkey. They found an ad hoc settlement that now hosts some 10,000 displaced Syrians, more than double the number who’d been there at the beginning of the year. While it is officially known as a “transit camp,” it would be more accurate to call it a camp for internally displaced people, or IDPs.

Driven from their homes by the war, most of these IDPs now live in tents set up in a field formerly occupied by a customs office, though Alwawi and his family found sanctuary inside a mosque. In a quest to create some sense of normalcy, people have set up barbershops and foodstalls, even a school for the children.

Lifesaving Mother and Child Care in the Ethiopian Mountains

Aroressa, located in southern Ethiopia’s Sidama zone, is a beautiful, verdant, and mountainous area dotted with small coffee plantations that are irrigated by natural waterfalls and meandering streams. In the valleys, cattle graze and children play outside the onion-shaped huts typical of the area.

But Aroressa’s beauty obscures the very serious medical issues with which its population must contend. Health centers are scarce, as are qualified medical personnel. Maternal and child mortality rates are high. The mountainous terrain makes it difficult for pregnant women to trek to their nearest health center, which could be 20 kilometers [12 miles] away, if not further. Many lives have been lost on these treacherous journeys.

We are all exhausted. Most of us started the day tired after a long week and I wasn’t the only one planning a low-key weekend.

Worn out though we are, there are few complaints. This is what we are here for after all. And we would do it all again tomorrow if we had to.

It’s your birthday, you plan to relax, then the call comes in - there are many people wounded by gun shots down the river. Read how MSF nurse Emma and her team in South Sudan leap into action.  
Civilians are leaving Sudan’s South Kordofan state due to a lack of food and supplies and because of the ongoing conflict. South Sudan 2013 © Yann Libessart A Critical Situation for Sudanese Refugees in Yida Civilians have been fleeing the conflict between Sudanese government forces and rebels from the North Sudanese People Liberation Movement (SPLM-North) in Sudan’s South Kordofan region since June 2011. The only option for many displaced people is to seek refuge in the camp of Yida, just on the other side of the border in South Sudan. As Yida’s population continues to grow, the camp’s location has become a source of complex political tensions that increasingly threaten the condition of the refugees.

Civilians are leaving Sudan’s South Kordofan state due to a lack of food and supplies and because of the ongoing conflict. South Sudan 2013 © Yann Libessart

A Critical Situation for Sudanese Refugees in Yida

Civilians have been fleeing the conflict between Sudanese government forces and rebels from the North Sudanese People Liberation Movement (SPLM-North) in Sudan’s South Kordofan region since June 2011. The only option for many displaced people is to seek refuge in the camp of Yida, just on the other side of the border in South Sudan. As Yida’s population continues to grow, the camp’s location has become a source of complex political tensions that increasingly threaten the condition of the refugees.

Malawi: A Clearer Picture of the AIDS Epidemic

In Malawi, MSF is now treating 36,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, teams are taking part in an ambitious survey designed to measure the incidence of the disease, seeking to learn if HIV/AIDS is still spreading as rapidly as it was, or if transmission rates have decreased.

Photo: MSF doctor Claire Marie Loys introduces a young patient to his heartbeat in Aweil, South Sudan. Photo by Yann Libessart/MSF Dr. Loys and her team provide maternal and child health at the Aweil referral hospital; over the last year more than 4,700 children have received treatment there.

Photo: MSF doctor Claire Marie Loys introduces a young patient to his heartbeat in Aweil, South Sudan. Photo by Yann Libessart/MSF

Dr. Loys and her team provide maternal and child health at the Aweil referral hospital; over the last year more than 4,700 children have received treatment there.

Photo: Destroyed medical supplies litter the ground outside the MSF hospital in Pibor. South Sudan 2013 © Vikki Stienen/MSF South Sudan: MSF Hospital Severely Damaged in Intentional Attack MSF strongly condemns the deliberate damage and looting of its hospital in Pibor town, in South Sudan’s Jonglei State, which has left tens of thousands of people without access to essential medical care. The hospital’s infrastructure was systematically damaged May 11–12 in order to render it unusable without major repairs. Therapeutic medical food and hospital beds were looted. The MSF structure is the only hospital facility for Pibor County, with the nearest alternative more than 90 miles away. The hospital’s closure leaves roughly 100,000 people cut off from health care. Many of them have fled to the bush amid conflict between the South Sudan Army (SPLA) and the David YauYau armed militia group. “A special effort was made to destroy drug supplies by strewing them on the ground, to cut and slash the warehouse tents, to ransack the hospital wards, and even to cut electricity cables and rip them from the walls,” said Richard Veerman, MSF operations coordinator for South Sudan.

Photo: Destroyed medical supplies litter the ground outside the MSF hospital in Pibor. South Sudan 2013 © Vikki Stienen/MSF

South Sudan: MSF Hospital Severely Damaged in Intentional Attack

MSF strongly condemns the deliberate damage and looting of its hospital in Pibor town, in South Sudan’s Jonglei State, which has left tens of thousands of people without access to essential medical care.

The hospital’s infrastructure was systematically damaged May 11–12 in order to render it unusable without major repairs. Therapeutic medical food and hospital beds were looted. The MSF structure is the only hospital facility for Pibor County, with the nearest alternative more than 90 miles away. The hospital’s closure leaves roughly 100,000 people cut off from health care. Many of them have fled to the bush amid conflict between the South Sudan Army (SPLA) and the David YauYau armed militia group.

“A special effort was made to destroy drug supplies by strewing them on the ground, to cut and slash the warehouse tents, to ransack the hospital wards, and even to cut electricity cables and rip them from the walls,” said Richard Veerman, MSF operations coordinator for South Sudan.

Photo: Patients at the community hospital in Bangui, where MSF treated people wounded in conflict. CAR 2013 © Francois Beda/MSF In Central African Republic, the Violence Has Ended But the Emergency Continues “At the height of the crisis, confrontations, shootings, and abuses occurred daily. Today, tension and violence have subsided and we are now in a particularly delicate phase—a sort of false calm that is both fragile and potentially explosive. Seleka’s two main groups will have to begin negotiations to establish an imminent power-sharing arrangement. There could be friction and clashes within this young coalition,” says MSF head of mission in CAR, Serge St-Louis. As a medical organization, we are very concerned about the unmet needs among a population that was already very vulnerable prior to the Seleka offensive. There are thousands of displaced persons who now live in extremely precarious conditions, without medical care, shelter, food, or water. The health situation is critical in several regions. There are serious shortages of drugs and supplies and there are no health care personnel in the medical facilities. Based on our latest admission figures, the seasonal epidemic of malaria, which is endemic in the CAR, appears to have begun and will surge in the rainy season.

Photo: Patients at the community hospital in Bangui, where MSF treated people wounded in conflict. CAR 2013 © Francois Beda/MSF

In Central African Republic, the Violence Has Ended But the Emergency Continues

“At the height of the crisis, confrontations, shootings, and abuses occurred daily. Today, tension and violence have subsided and we are now in a particularly delicate phase—a sort of false calm that is both fragile and potentially explosive. Seleka’s two main groups will have to begin negotiations to establish an imminent power-sharing arrangement. There could be friction and clashes within this young coalition,” says MSF head of mission in CAR, Serge St-Louis.

As a medical organization, we are very concerned about the unmet needs among a population that was already very vulnerable prior to the Seleka offensive. There are thousands of displaced persons who now live in extremely precarious conditions, without medical care, shelter, food, or water. The health situation is critical in several regions. There are serious shortages of drugs and supplies and there are no health care personnel in the medical facilities. Based on our latest admission figures, the seasonal epidemic of malaria, which is endemic in the CAR, appears to have begun and will surge in the rainy season.

South Sudan: Preparing for the Rainy Season

At the Yida refugee camp in South Sudan, where the population has increased five-fold in the past year, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is treating growing numbers of patients and preparing for the additional hardships that will come with the approaching rainy season.

Photo: MSF is providing humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees in Domeez camp through general health and mental health care and immunization. Iraq 2013 © Pierre-Yves Bernard/MSF Iraq: Syrian Refugees’ Health Deteriorates at Domeez Camp Overcrowding and poor living conditions in Iraq’s Domeez camp have led to a recent deterioration in the health of Syrian refugees. Stéphane Reynier, emergency coordinator for MSF, describes the current situation in the camp: The health system in Syria has collapsed, and the war has left a section of the population with no access to health care. For the past two years, because of the conflict, children have not received their routine vaccinations.

Photo: MSF is providing humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees in Domeez camp through general health and mental health care and immunization. Iraq 2013 © Pierre-Yves Bernard/MSF

Iraq: Syrian Refugees’ Health Deteriorates at Domeez Camp

Overcrowding and poor living conditions in Iraq’s Domeez camp have led to a recent deterioration in the health of Syrian refugees. Stéphane Reynier, emergency coordinator for MSF, describes the current situation in the camp:

The health system in Syria has collapsed, and the war has left a section of the population with no access to health care. For the past two years, because of the conflict, children have not received their routine vaccinations.

Countries Must Fix Critical Access to Medicines Flaws in Trans-Pacific Trade Pact

Negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)—a far-reaching trade agreement between 11 Pacific Rim countries—continue to be shrouded in secrecy, but leaked copies of the agreement reveal that the United States is demanding the most harmful package of intellectual property protections ever proposed for a trade agreement with developing countries.

These rules would make it extremely difficult for generic competitors to enter the market, keeping prices unaffordably high, with devastating public health consequences.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): A Threat to Affordable Medicines for Millions

The TPP trade deal is currently being negotiated between the US and ten other Pacific Rim nations: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The agreement is slated to further expand its membership, potentially to all 21 Asia Pacific APEC nations. The negotiations, which began in 2010, are being conducted in secret, without the opportunity for public scrutiny. However, leaked drafts of the United States government’s proposals for some sections of the agreement reveal the inclusion of dangerous provisions that would dismantle public health safeguards enshrined in international law and restrict access to affordable generic medicines for millions of people in developing countries. To learn more visit, msfaccess.org/TPP

MSF Logistician Ben King building kites with the community. Afghanistan 2013 © Ben King

“My vision of this country before I arrived saw kites flying everywhere, filling the air with the exuberance of small boys interacting with others far beyond the high walls of their own compounds. A kind of invisible communication that creates infinitely strong bonds between the people and their country. My visions were true when I arrived, but as the temperatures began to plummet, the kites, one by one, disappeared from the crystal clear skies. Finally, though, it was our chance to try our hand at it…

For now, I will enjoy watching them dance about as a beacon of hope for a brighter future for this ever colourful and complex land”

Read more from Ben’s blog and leave questions and comments below his post.

Usually we receive no warning of the imminent arrival of bomb blast victims. They normally arrive in a cloud of panic; chaotic screaming ensues and staff members run to man their posts. This time we are prepared. From the time of the phone call it should be twenty minutes before they arrive, not much time to ready the Emergency Room but I am surprised at how much gets done. We clear the resuscitation room and triage area, we prepare IV bags and bandages and then we prepare a queue of stretchers outside.
MSF doctor Stefan writes from Kunduz, Afghanistan, on treating people injured by IEDs and traffic accidents. Please leave your questions and comments for Stefan below his blog post.