2023: The Year in Pictures

(Left: After hours in labour, Adelia feels exhausted, but is overjoyed at having her newborn baby in her arms. Venezuela, May 2023. © MATIAS DELACROIX / Right: MSF doctors are forced to amputate the foot of a young boy on the floor of Al-Shifa hospital. Gaza, Palestine, October 2023. © MSF)

Dec 22, 2023

Over the last 12 months, multiple acute humanitarian crises have emerged. Climate change continues to take a devastating toll on people's health and war has reached disastrous heights in several places. A brutal, deadly war has unfolded in Gaza, where attacks on health facilities put the lives of many of our staff and patients at risk. We mourn the loss of four Palestinian colleagues.

This image collection provides a glimpse into the medical and humanitarian activities carried out by MSF teams in over 75 countries during the past 12 months. From the tireless work of our staff to the resilience of patients fighting for their lives in difficult circumstances, these stories bear witness to the vital importance of worldwide access to healthcare.

It is an essential need that should never be taken for granted, as emphasised in each and every one of these photographs.

January

Lima, Peru  

Following political protests across Peru, a 70-year-old patient is treated by MSF staff in Lima after being hit in the left temple by pellets fired by the police. © MAX CABELLO ORCASITAS

Ituri, DRC

MSF teams unload cargo in Rho displaced people’s camp, which has seen a further influx of people seeking safety following violent attacks by armed groups. The camp population has doubled to over 70,000 people, all living in dire conditions.© PHILOMÈNE FRANSSEN/MSF

February 

Idlib province, Syria

An aerial view of MSF’s distribution of relief items to a reception centre hosting families displaced by the earthquake which struck Syria and Türkiye on 6 February. © OMAR HAJ KADOUR

Kherson oblast (province), Ukraine

MSF runs a mobile clinic in the area, providing medical care and mental health support to residents. © LAUREL CHOR

March

Manila, Philippines

In the Tondo neighbourhood of Manila, MSF volunteers invite staff and customers at a local bakery to get their chest x-rayed at the free tuberculosis screening held by MSF. © RIA KRISTINA TORRENTE

Abdurafi, Ethiopia

Getu Kassa (centre) and other farm workers pick cotton on a farm in the Abdurafi area. They have come from the highlands, where there is no immunity against kala azar or malaria, and they work and sleep in the fields during the night, leaving them susceptible to both diseases. © AMANUEL SILESHI/MSFApril 

Khartoum, Sudan 

An aerial view shows black smoke drifting across Khartoum following the fighting and violence that erupted between the army and paramilitary forces in mid-April. © ATSUHIKO OCHIAI/MSF

Central African Republic

After an accident in 2016, Bienvenue had his right leg amputated by an MSF surgical team at SICA hospital. He received medical care and physiotherapy treatment from MSF. On average, our teams at the SICA hospital in Bangui perform operations and provide follow-up care to approximately 320 people each month who have been injured in road accidents or violent situations. © KRISTEN POELS/MSF

May

Nigeria

Rabiu, a 20-year-old noma survivor, from Raba, Sokoto state, plays darts in the courtyard of the Sokoto Noma Hospital. Rabiu received reconstructive surgery from an MSF medical team. © FABRICE CATERINI/INEDIZ

Arsal, Lebanon

Siwar holds up her insulin pen while lying down among her toys in her family's makeshift home. Siwar was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at a young age and frequents the MSF clinic in town for treatment. © CARMEN YAHCHOUCHI/MSF

June 

Central Mediterranean Sea

Black smoke billows from a wooden boat after being intercepted by the Libyan Coast Guard. The boat had around 50 people onboard, who were transferred to the Coast Guard’s vessel before the wooden boat was set on fire. © SKYE MCKEE/MSF

Adré, Chad

A doctor holds up the x-rays of a woman who was shot in the neck in Sudan, before she managed to reach Adré in Chad. There, MSF staff operated to remove the bullet in Abéché hospital. © MOHAMMAD GHANNAM/MSF
July 

Central Mediterranean Sea

A team from the MSF search and rescue ship Geo Barents provides life vests to survivors on a wooden boat during a night-time rescue. © MICHELA RIZZOTTI/MSF
Goma, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo

An MSF water and sanitation hygienist walks across the top of water tanks being used to store and treat water for the people living in Bulengo displaced people’s camp. © ALEXANDRE MARCOU/MSFAugust 

Panama

People on the move from South to North America traverse a river in the Darién gap, as they make their way over the Panamanian border. © JUAN CARLOS TOMASI/MSF

September 

Derna, Libya

An aerial view of devastation after the floods caused by the Storm Daniel ravaged the region. © HALIL FIDAN/ANADOLU AGENCY VIA AFP

October 

Gaza Strip, Palestine 

A man drinks water from a burst pipe amongst destroyed buildings in Gaza, following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas three days earlier. © MOHAMMED BABA

Jenin, Palestine 

MSF medical staff treat wounded people at 2am in Jenin hospital, following an Israeli forces incursion on Jenin refugee camp. © FARIS AL-JAWAD/MSF

November 

Gaza Strip, Palestine 

An above view of a crowded hallway at Al-Aqsa hospital, where patients and displaced people are forced to live. © MOHAMMED ABED

Jenin, Palestine 

The watermelon roundabout, a symbol of Palestinian pride in Jenin, was destroyed during a military incursion in the city. Violent Israeli incursions in Jenin have become commonplace since 7 October. © FARIS AL-JAWAD/MSF

December

Genova, Italy

The survivors rescued by the MSF team from a fiberglass boat in distress, have safely disembarked in Genova, an unjustified faraway place of safety assigned by the Italian authorities. © MSF/Mohamad Cheblak

New York, USA 

MSF USA staff gather in front of UN headquarters in New York to call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire. © Sara Kerens/The Associated Press

 

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