Helmand Province – December 2010
A young girl in the paediatric ward of the Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Lashkar Gah. It is one of only two twenty-four hour and free hospitals in Southern Afghanistan and has 154 beds.

Kinshasa – January 2011
Patrick and Selly examining Nadine (28), a patient at the Centre Hospitalier de Kabinda (CHK) in Kinshasa. The conditions surrounding access to care for people living with HIV/AIDS in DRC are horrific. At the Centre Hospitalier de Kabinda, MSF has observed an excessively high number of patients arriving with serious complications resulting from lack of treatment. Their advanced illness creates unacceptable suffering.

The main hospital in Zemio, Central African Republic, where MSF nurses and doctors work. MSF started intervening in Zemio, CAR, in May 2010 after violent attacks in the area by the LRA in April, which led to the arrival of thousands of internally displaced people in the town of Zemio. The team offers IPD and OPD services at the main hospital in Zemio, and is running four health posts in the area.

A man rests at the side of his father’s hospital bed at the MSF trauma center in Kunduz, Afghanistan, November 28, 2011.
The 55-bed MSF hospital opened in August, 2011 and provides urgent surgical care and follow-up treatment for people who have suffered life-threatening injuries.

Kunduz, Afghanistan – November 2011
While his father looks on, a young boy receives postoperative care after a complicated abdominal surgery at the MSF hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan. November 30, 2011. MSF opened a 55-bed trauma center in Kunduz Province in August, 2011. The hospital provides urgent surgical care and follow-up treatment for people who have suffered severe injuries.

Haut Uéle – July 2011
A female patient is waiting for her consultation in Dungu Hospital. She has a severe cut on her back.
The eastern DRC context is still volatile, marked by shifting alliances between armed groups, ongoing military operations, instability, insecurity, banditry, and violence. Attacks against civilians and aid organisations are rising, making both the population and humanitarian aid workers increasingly vulnerable.
Rape, murder, kidnapping, and random acts of violence are daily occurrences for millions of people. The ability of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to provide free and lifesaving healthcare is at times limited by this instability, which continues to push people from their homes.

Niangara, DR Congo – June 2011
Francine, wife of 75-year-old Petron Boloyote, in the communal cooking area for patient’s caretakers at Niangara hospital. Her husband Petron has a severe testicular hernia and the MSF team gave the go-ahead that he should be referred from Nambia Health Centre to the hospital for surgery, but only if Francine could come to look after him while he’s in hospital. Francine gathered cooking utensils, some staple foodstuff and some cotton material to sleep under for the duration of their hospital stay.

Yambio, South Sudan – January 2011
A woman waits to see a doctor at a hospital run in partnership with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), in the town of Yambio, southern Sudan. Yambio, a poor and isolated town near the borders of Central African Republic (CAR) and Congo, has had a history of conflict due to the presence of the shadowy paramilitary group the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) which has terrorized much of the population along the border regions of the three countries.

Abidjan, Ivory Coast – April 18th, 2011
A surgical team performs a c-section during a power cut in Abobo Sud Hospital in Abidjan. A week after the end of the military standoff in Abidjan, very few hospitals are open, and Abobo Sud has been handling thirty deliveries daily. MSF has been supporting Abobo Sud Hospital since the end of February. At the peak of post-election violence, MSF was treating 25-30 conflict-related wounded every day from mid-March to 11th April.

Lashkargah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, June 2010
In the male inpatient department of Boost Hospital, MSF doctor Sergio Cabral examines 2 year old Amir who has pneumonia.
MSF is providing medical care at the Ahmed Shah Baba hospital in eastern Kabul and the Lashkargah Provincial Hospital in Helmand Province. The growing insecurity in Helmand Province is forcing people to go to extreme lengths to seek either routine or emergency care at often dysfunctional health structures.

Chocò, Colombia – April 7, 2010
16-year old Daniela in labour pain before her first delivery. The baby’s farther is not around, but her mother has come to assist her during the birth. They live together about three hours by public transport from the hospital. After a long an exhausting delivery she had a healthy girl. High maternal mortality rates in Chocò are almost three times as high as the Colombian average (194,7/100,000 born). This led MSF to start a project of sexual and reproductive healthcare in this poor Colombian region.

Port-au-Prince – January 28, 2010
Patients at Hospital Isaie Jeanty, in Chancerelle. MSF started working in Isaie Jeanty one week after the earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince. The MSF team provides orthopedic surgery, maternity services, post-operation care and psychosocial activities.

Lashkargah , Helmand Province – March 2009
A child waits for treatment at ‘Boost Hospital’. MSF has just started working in the only public general hospital still functioning in Helmand, in the provincial capital Lashkargah. It is one of the key health facilities in the south of Afghanistan, a region that is severely affected by ongoing conflict.

Jamaame hospital, southern Somalia – July 2009
The hospital was opened in March 2007. A 55 beds hospital, located nearly 30 kms North of Kismayo. Activities include Nutrition, maternity, general medicine and emergency care. In 2009, there was an average of 4 000 consultations and 140 admissions per month. In terms of nutrition an average of 260 kids have been treated every month in ambulatory while 90 more sever cases had to be admitted every month.

Port Harcourt, Nigeria – July 2007
In the oil-rich Niger delta in southern Nigeria, the struggle for revenue and power has resulted in violent clashes fueled by a complex dynamic among various groups. In the heart of the Diobu in Port Harcourt is Teme hospital where MSF set up a trauma center in November 2005. More than 200 Nigerian and international staff provide free emergency medical care to victims of trauma, including gunshots, stabbings, burns, and life-threatening road accidents.

Kenya Kamalondo health center, Lubumbashi – August 1999
A man fans his pregnant wife in the maternity ward where the fans are no longer working.

Cité Soleil, Haiti – June 2007
In one of the city’s most violent areas, Cité Soleil, MSF operates the 75-bed Choscal Hospital and primary healthcare centre in Chapi. More than 3,000 consultations are carried out monthly, including maternal and child healthcare and surgical consultations.

September 2008
Hassan, 43, was driving his taxi in Bagdad, Iraq, when a bomb exploded. He underwent surgery with the MSF team in Mehran, in neighbouring Iran, and he is now getting follow-up treatment in Amman, Jordan.

Homa Bay, Kenya – January 2003
Doctor showing chest x-rays to an HIV/AIDS patient. Tuberculosis (TB) is the primary opportunistic disease affecting patients living with HIV/AIDS, and can be diagnosed with the help of chest x-rays.  MSF supports HIV/AIDS care and hospitalization for adults in the hospital of Homa Bay, on Lake Victoria.

Homa Bay, Kenya – janvier 2003
Radio pulmonaire presentee par le medecin, la tuberculose etant la premiere maladie opportuniste du sida. MSF soutient la consultation VIH/SIDA et les services d’hospitalisation pour adultes dans l’hopital de Homa Bay, au bord du Lac Victoria.

Tuining, Churachandpur, Manipur State – November 2007
Manipur is a conflict-ridden state where numerous insurgency groups are embattled with the central Indian government or amongst themselves. The conflict dates to the creation of modern India in 1947 but has tribal and religious elements as well. As a result of the conflict, absence of law and order and economic neglect, the majority of Manipuri citizens have no or limited access to primary health services.

Tuining, Churachandpur, Etat de Manipur – Novembre 2007
Manipur est un Etat dominé par un conflit dans lequel un nombre important de groupes insurgés s’opposent à la fois entre eux et au gouvernement indien. Ce conflit remonte à la création de l’Inde moderne en 1947 mais a également des origines tribales et religieuses. Conséquences de ces affrontements, l’absence de loi et d’ordre et le délabrement économique, font obstacle à l’accès des civils Manipuri aux services de santé primaire.