Publications

In this issue, MSF staff answer fundamental questions about our operations - from how we recruit staff, respond to emergencies and deliver supplies, to how we close projects and share our medical findings with the global health community.

Welcome to our new Alert. This is the first issue of MSFUSA’s re-designed quarterly newsletter, and we hope you like it. This issue of Alert highlights devastating crises in South Sudan and Syria, conflict-related emergencies that are causing mass casualties and extensive displacement. In both places (and in neighboring countries), our medical teams are doing as much as they can to ease suffering and save lives.

Two years after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake left much of the country's already fragile infrastructure in tatters, the people of Haiti remain in desperate need of assistance. In this issue, a look at Drouillard Hospital, an MSF-run facility in the Cite Soleil slum of Port-au-Prince where MSF provides the city's only free treatment for severe burns. Also in this issue: a project update on MSF's efforts to combat chronic malnutrition in Africa's Sahel region, an interview with the head of MSF's Emergency Team and a field journal from HIV/AIDS Policy Adviser Sharonann Lynch, who recently visited an innovative HIV care program in rural Mozambique.

While MSF has been unable to work directly in Syria, it has collected testimonies from wounded patients treated outside the country and from doctors inside Syria. These testimonies point to a coordinated crackdown on the provision of urgent medical care for people wounded in Syria's ongoing violence. Also in this issue: MSF field journals from Gogrial and Doro in South Sudan, an interview with Emmanuel Baron, executive director of Epicentre, and photos from MSF's trauma center in Kunduz, Afghanistan.

This special "Year in Pictures" issue brings you images from MSF's activities all over the world in 2011. These photos chronicle the response to the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa; ongoing programs in conflict-affected areas of Afghanistan, Ivory Coast, Libya, and others; the birth of South Sudan, the world's newest nation; MSF's continuing work in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and more. Also read a new Field Journal from an MSF nurse who spent 14 months in Haiti providing care in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Drought and the ongoing violent conflict in Somalia have pushed people across borders and into displacement camps in huge numbers. MSF is working inside Somalia and in Kenya and Ethiopia to assist people suffering in large numbers from malnourishment and epidemic diseases. Also - a look at a growing need for measles treatment and prevention.

The project coordinator of an MSF team in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, kept a diary describing the tense and often overwhelming period of fighting when staff worked continuously to treat the wounded and sick. And, an MSF study in Niger shows how effective ready-to-use foods can be in a malnutrition emergency.

In light of the debate that arose in 2010 over the efficacy of humanitarian aid, in this issue of Alert, we discuss what humanitarian action means to us and examine the question of accountability. We also bring you reports on southern Sudan and on our work on neglected diseases.

In this double issue, we also bring you another "Year in Pictures" with striking images from some of the biggest crises MSF addressed in 2010. Included are stories about MSF continuing to address the devastating effects of the earthquake that hit Haiti in January 2010, and the cholera epidemic that effected every area of the country starting in October. Also read about MSF teams bringing assistance to Pakistan after large-scale flooding displaced 20 million people, and a breakthrough meningitis vaccine.

MSF is working to establish a medical model for treating children with severe acute malnutrition in India, but it is not without its challenges. We give you a sample of photos from MSF's multimedia documentary project about global malnutrition called "Starved for Attention."  Also — read a doctor's first-hand account of overseeing the emergency response to a measles outbreak in Malawi; and see the impact that donor funds have had on MSF's work in post-earthquake Haiti.

Following the earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12, MSF launched what would become one of the largest emergency efforts in the organization's history. Also in this issue of Alert: the personal testimonies of four MSFstaff working in Haiti during and after the quake; an article by Dr. Greg Elder; and an excerpt from Writing on the Edge, in which Booker-prize winning novelist DBC Pierre recounts his journey with photographer Tom Craig to Armenia.

We bring you some of the most striking photos from a few of the most urgent crises MSF responded to in 2009. Also see a timeline of MSF activities last year.

With a dire need for newer medications, a shortfall in funding, and no increases on the horizon, the AIDS emergency in the developing world is far from over. Also, despite complex and intense violence in Somalia, MSF has been able to provide ongoing medical services in Jamaame, in a remote area of southern Somalia’s Lower Juba region. 

In May, MSF began providing emergency medical care to the thousands of civilians pouring out of conflict zones in the Vanni district of Sri Lanka. Also in this issue of Alert: a report on Chagas, the much-neglected disease that kills 15,000 per year; the account of a MSF nurse providing care to the Rohingya people in Myanmar; and a report on MSF's response to the thousands of Zimbabweans who have fled their homes and crossed the border into South Africa.

This issue of Alert brings you reports on Zimbabwe where MSF is responding to a growing cholera epidemic, and on DRC where war-wounded are receiving emergency care from MSF staff.  Also in this issue: a story on MSF’s program in Yemen to assist Somali and Ethiopian refugees who risk everything by making a perilous sea voyage across the Gulf of Aden. 

Alert gives you another “Year in Pictures” with images captured by photojournalists and MSF staff, covering MSF’s programs in 2008.  The photographs in this issue take you to an MSF feeding center in Ethiopia, to Myanmar where Cyclone Nargis devastated coastal villages, and to a Hmong refugee camp in Thailand.  Also in this issue: a timeline of MSF’s activities in 2008.

This issue of Alert reports on MSF’s response to a growing malnutrition crisis in several countries, MSF’s assistance to victims of successive storms that devastated Haiti, and MSF’s program in Yemen to assist Somali and Ethiopian refugees who survived the deadly journey across the Gulf of Aden.  Also in this issue: a report on a pilot fistula surgery program in Chad and a story on the possibilities of drug patent-sharing.

In this issue, Alert reports on an emerging crisis affecting Darfur as new hostilities develop.  In Southern Sudan, despite a peace agreement signed in 2005, violence is flaring up as millions of refugees and IDPs return to the region.  Also in this issue: reports on MSF’s large-scale assistance to victims of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and the response to the 8.0-magnitude earthquake that devastated southwestern China’s Sichuan Province.

In February, MSF responded to the need for emergency assistance after post-election violence broke out in Kenya. In this issue, Alert reports on MSF's activities in what was formally one of the most stable areas of Africa. Also in this issue: MSF's emergency medical care in Chad following an attempted government coup; a report from war-torn Democratic republic of Congo; a pediatrician's story of trying to save children infected with malaria in Sierra Leone; a story on CMV retinitis, a disease that is causing blindness in HIV/AIDS patients in Asia; and the first of a four-part series of excerpts from the collected essays of MSF veteran Francois Jean.

This issue includes a special report on MSF's global campaign to increase access to a lifesaving treatment for malnutrition, an update on the war in Somalia, and a journal from an MSF staff member working in Colombia's conflict zone.

In this issue, reports on MSF's surgical program for victims of the conflict in Iraq, the organization's response to displaced people in eastern Chad, and one woman's life with HIV/AIDS.

From Lebanon to Niger, and to Colombia and Sudan, a special "Year in Pictures" issue of Alert looks back at 2006 through the lens of some of the world's top photographers.

In this issue of Alert, reports on the emergence of drug-resistant tuberculosis; efforts to combat sleeping sickness in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and a nurse's field journal from southern Sudan as well as other updates on MSF programs around the world.

In this issue of Alert, reports on the deteriorating situation in Darfur, Sudan; the constant fear for the nearly three million displaced people in Colombia; and a meningitist outbreak in northern Nigeria as well as other updates on MSF programs around the world.

MSF emergency teams respond to fresh outbreaks of violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Katanga province. An orthopedic surgeon from Connecticut treats victims of the massive earthquake that struck Pakistan and India. An inside look at the medical research and development crisis. These are just some of the topics covered in this issue of Alert.

This special "Year in Pictures" issue of Alert draws on the work of some exceptional photographers. Included in this issue is a selection of images from five world-renowned photographers from the VII photo agency—Ron Haviv, Gary Knight, Antonin Kratochvil, Joachim Ladefoged, and James Nachtwey—who traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with MSF. Also, photographer Ashley Gilbertson of Aurora Photos takes us to Nanning, China.

MSF emergency medical teams respond the earthquake that devastated Pakistan and Indian-administered Kashmir. Violence stalks civilians in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Refusing to die of HIV/AIDS in Guatemala. How MSF's work to innovate care of acute malnutrition saves thousands of children in Niger. Treating tuberculosis in nomads in northern Ethiopia. All in this issue of Alert.

An urban war raging in Haiti's Port-au-Prince, and MSF on the frontlines bringing emergency medical care to the victims. The emergence of a nutritional crisis in Niger. A photo essay on the ongoing plight of the more than 1.5 million displaced people in the Darfur region of Sudan. All in this issue of Alert.

From the rise of tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/AIDS co-infection to multidrug-resistant forms of the disease, an in-depth look into the emerging challenges of the TB crisis. An emergency intervention in the face of the December 26, 2004, South Asian tsunami. All in this issue of Alert.

A forgotten war in northern Uganda. Violence in Ivory Coast. MSF's efforts to fight measles in Darfur. Mental health care in times of conflict. Responding to emergencies in the Congo. On the frontlines of AIDS treatment. Closing programs in Iraq. All in this issue of Alert.

MSF responds to the needs of civilians in Darfur, Sudan, who face ongoing violence against civilians and malnutrition. Following the assassination of five of its aid workers in June 2004, MSF closes all its medical programs in Afghanistan. A photo essay captures images of 24 years of assistance to the Afghan people. Mobile clinics bring medical care to Colombians trapped in civil war. All in this issue of Alert.

Hundreds of thousands have fled conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan--now famine looms. Civilians remain the prime target of violence in northern Uganda. The neglected disease Chagas is one of the biggest killers in Bolivia. Learn how MSF is responding to these crises and others in the summer issue.

The spring issue includes articles on MSF's efforts to treat rape survivors in Congo Republic and to aid isolated populations in Afghanistan as well as updates on the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan. The issue also includes our annual "Top Ten List of Most Underreported Stories in 2003."

The special issue on HIV/AIDS informs readers about the state of the world's AIDS epidemic and the urgent need to expand treatment. It also describes aspects of MSF's HIV/AIDS projects in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the former Soviet Union and emphasizes the elements needed to guarantee successful programs.

The fall issue highlights MSF's work during 18 years of civil war in Sri Lanka and its decision to scale back operations there. It also focuses on the current violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the war in Liberia, the public health impact of the Free Trade Area of the Americas Agreement, an update on efforts to secure the release of MSF volunteer Arjan Erkel now held for more than a year in Dagestan, and MSF-USA's Frontline Reports discussion series.

The summer issue focuses on Liberia's civilian population which has been severely affected by years of war. It also includes pieces on the mental effects of conflict in Kashmir, a look back at MSF's intervention in Angola one year after the 2002 famine, highlights from the new National Geographic documentary on MSF's work in the field, an update on the Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines, Central African Republic refugees in Chad and more.

Neglected Diseases: Forgotten Lives

This special issue reveals why more than 14 million people die every year from treatable, infectious diseases. Other stories include an update on MSF's work confronting SARS in Vietnam and Hong Kong and news about its medical teams in Baghdad.

This issue features stories on Sudan's ongoing violence and the effect on health and access to aid, the year's most underreported humanitarian stories, Moscow's homeless, a traveling exhibit on the crisis in access to essential medicines, field news and much more.

Treating HIV/AIDS

What is keeping HIV/AIDS treatment from being available to patients? How can we ensure that the sick receive the life-saving drugs they deserve? This special issue focuses on the current barriers to treatment—both real and imagined—and the successful MSF antiretroviral projects which are proving that treatment is feasible for HIV/AIDS patients worldwide.

MSF and Bearing Witness

This special issue features a letter from MSF-USA's new Executive Director, a discussion of recent cases where MSF has spoken out, field news and more.