China

On May 12, 2008, a devastating earthquake hit Sichuan province, leaving more than 80,000 dead and 10 million homeless. One year on, displaced people who lost their families, homes, and jobs in the quake are still suffering from psychological disorders and are in need of support to rebuild their lives. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been continuing psychological care to the earthquake victims.

On May 12, 2008, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Sichuan Province in China, leaving more than 80,000 people dead and 370,000 people injured. The quake's epicenter was in Wenchuan, in the northwest of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. Some 90,000 buildings collapsed and more than 10 million people left homeless. Up to 40 international staff and 16 national staff of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) have worked in affected areas providing relief materials, medical care, and psychological support. Today, MSF continues to offer psychological care to affected people in Sichuan.

After attempting for almost two years to reach an agreement with China’s tuberculosis (TB) control program, MSF has given up on its efforts to start a project in Inner-Mongolia for assisting people suffering from multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).

Many people are still experiencing a deep sense of loss, grief, and mourning after such a terrifying event. On the other hand, most of our patients are showing signs of recovery and we no longer come across emaciated patients who have not eaten for days, or those suffering from persistent sleep disturbances.

An 8.0-magnitude earthquake devastated parts of southwestern China’s Sichuan province on May 12, affecting a densely populated area nearly as large as France.

One month after an 8.0-magnitude earthquake devastated China’s Sichuan province on May 12, MSF teams are continuing to give psychological support to the quake-affected population. Two teams of psychologists experienced in post-disaster trauma management have been providing advice and training to medical staff and have started a mental health program in sites for displaced people.

“In a large-scale disaster such as the Sichuan earthquake, you could find large unmet needs, says Tony Marchant, MSF's outgoing emergency coordinator in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. "But there are very few gaps; they are mainly in the fields of mental health, basic relief items, and shelter. MSF is trying to respond to these gaps.”

The Chinese government is now estimating that more than 5 million have been left homeless by the 8.0-magnitude earthquake that devastated parts of the country’s Sichuan province 12 days ago. A total of 34 MSF team members are now in the affected region and have been carrying out assessments, providing surgical and basic medical care, as well as mental health services, and donating tents and medicines to the relief effort. The local, regional, and national response has been enormous, but some of the needs, especially in the area of shelter, remain.

A week after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake killed a reported 32,000 and left up to 4.8 million people homeless in China’s southwestern Sichuan province, MSF has now provided over 210 tons of relief supplies as well as medical assistance to the survivors.

MSF teams have been assessing the immediate health needs in several affected areas of Sichuan. The results from the initial assessment indicate urgent needs for shelters, drinking water, medical and sanitation supplies. Most pharmacies in the area were destroyed by the quake, and people are facing a dire shortage of medicines. Therefore, MSF is planning to send medicine and medical supplies to Chengdu.

Two days after a powerful earthquake hit Sichuan Province in southwestern China, the confirmed death toll nears 15,000 and thousands of people remain trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings, according to provincial authorities.

Following a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck China’s southwestern province of Sichuan on Monday, 2:28pm local time, MSF will today dispatch its first medical teams to one of the worst hit areas.

After four years of seeking permission to bring HIV/AIDS treatment to China's Henan province, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has found the door firmly shut by the provincial authorities. Henan is particularly hard hit by HIV; between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s many poor farmers got infected in a poorly run commercial program for blood donation and transfusion.

Of all the challenges Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) faces treating HIV/AIDS in China, perhaps none is as daunting as the pervasive stigma surrounding the disease