Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières
12:01pm Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 | 0 comments | 0/5 rating | Share

Making peace with medicine: 

Present in the world's most troubled regions, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is a private, non-profit, relief organization committed to providing urgent medical care to victims of armed conflict, epidemics, exclusion from health care, or natural disaster. Since 1971, MSF has been a constant international source for expert medical attention, crisis awareness and humanitarian aid. MSF provides emergency medical assistance to populations in danger in more than 60 countries around the globe, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.

"MSF will not accept that good quality medicine is the reserve of rich people in developed countries. We strive to provide our patients with the best possible care, adopting advances in medical knowledge and research for patients living in precarious situations," - a statement from an MSF online video.

But for MSF, it is about more than medically saving lives. MSF seeks to raise awareness of crisis situations as its aid workers provide humanitarian aid. At times, MSF may speak out about the plight of those with whom they work in an effort to bring a forgotten crisis to public attention, to alert the public to unreported abuses, to criticize the inadequacies of the aid system or to challenge the diversion of humanitarian aid for political interests.

Through its Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines, MSF works to lower drug prices, stimulate research and development of new treatments, and overcome trade and other barriers to accessing treatments for AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, sleeping sickness and other devastating diseases.

MSF's work also extends to people who are excluded from society and are left without any access to health care - street children, drug addicts, sex workers, prisoners and undocumented immigrants. MSF's work reflects the organization's founding commitment to care for distressed people regardless of race, religion or politics.

The organization was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999, in recognition of its "pioneering humanitarian work on several continents."

Photo caption: An MSF physician examines internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in a camp in Eastern Chad (2009, photo by Jean-Pierre Amigo/MSF).

Learn more:
Doctors Without Borders website
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières YouTube channel