MSF worldwide work highlight (10/6 – 23/6)

 

Although HIV is not a major epidemic in the country (prevalence is estimated at about 0.2 per cent of the population), people living with HIV face stigma and discrimination almost everywhere; and because of the lack of knowledge by the medical personnel, even in some health facilities. Since the beginning of the year, MSF is working in Sana’a to help reduce the stigma and improve the access to quality healthcare.

 

An assessment of the health situation and medical needs was initiated at the beginning of May in the east of Central African Republic (CAR), an area particularly affected by the Seleka offensive at the end of last year and beginning of 2013. While healthcare facilities were already in a state of collapse, this has been exacerbated by the violence and health risks are starting to appear. 

 

An estimated 120,000 people have fled fighting in and around the main towns in Pibor County in South Sudan’s  Jonglei state and are now hiding in unsafe and malaria-infested swamps without access to safe drinking water, food, or medical care.. The government of South Sudan must allow immediate humanitarian assistance to these areas to prevent the deaths of thousands of internally displaced persons, said MSF.

 

An outbreak of malaria in Lulingu (South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo) is affecting large numbers of people, prompting an emergency response by MSF, whose teams have treated more than 2,500 people since the start of May. 

 

A measles epidemic is sweeping through districts of northern Syria, with up to 7,000 known cases, an indication that humanitarian needs are increasing and the country’s healthcare system is in a state of collapse after more than two years of civil war. Teams from MSF have vaccinated more than 75,000 children in the provinces of Aleppo, Ar-Raqqah and Idlib in an effort to stem the epidemic amongst a population previously unused to outbreaks of this kind. 

 

With the Sudanese Ministry of Health, a measles vaccination campaign, targeting over 300,000 children in Al-Gedaref state, ended on May, 2013. MSF launched a measles vaccinnation campaign in five localities in Al-Gedaref state, providing medical and logisitical support in an effort to prevent a measles epidemic. 

 

For many refugees from Syria, getting a roof over their heads and keeping their families fed is a massive struggle. On World Refugee Day, MSF warns that dire living conditions are affecting people's health. In order to cope with the continuous influx of refugees and their growing medical needs, MSF has been adapting and expanding its programs in the Bekaa Valley and other parts of the country, including the towns of Tripoli and Saida. The organisation also provides mental health care in various clinics to reinforce the coping skills of refugees and hosting communities, and it implemented a programme for chronic diseases and maternal health care in order to address the ever-increasing needs amongst refugees.