*Data from MSF International Activity Report 2024
Burundi 2020 © Richard MALIKONGE
Burundi
Responding to major outbreaks of malaria and cholera while continuing to offer high-quality care for victims of trauma in the capital, Bujumbura.
Update
Refugees in Burundi face alarming humanitarian needs
January 14, 2026 — Ongoing violence in South Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has forced more than 90,000 people to flee their homes and seek refuge in neighboring Burundi since December 5. An estimated 65,000 people are staying in Busuma camp in Ruyigi, where they face a dire humanitarian situation, far below minimum standards, warns Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). “This is the largest influx of refugees in years,” says Carolina Lopez Led, MSF emergency coordinator.
What’s happening in Burundi?
In July 2024, an epidemic of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, was declared. It quickly spread to all 18 provinces and by the end of the year, there were more than 3,000 confirmed cases. MSF teams helped respond to the epidemic at the university hospital of Kamenge in Bujumbura, and in Bururi province.
How we're helping in Burundi
In January 2024, we launched a new malaria project in Cibitoke, responding to needs identified during our emergency intervention in 2023. Our aim is to strengthen prevention and treatment of the disease, which is highly prevalent in the province and the leading cause of death and hospital admissions across the country. Our teams helped Cibitoke hospital and 20 health centers treat children under 15, strengthened blood transfusion safety measures, and prepared Ministry of Health teams to launch long-term treatment and vaccinations. To complement these activities, we ran community-based awareness-raising sessions and distributed mosquito bed nets.
Elsewhere in the country, MSF teams responded to several epidemics. From February to July, we supported the hospital and health centers in Kirundo health zone during a measles outbreak, treating children and providing logistical support for the vaccination campaign launched in May. In addition, we helped treat children suffering from malaria and malnutrition.
We also sent teams to respond to cholera epidemics in Bujumbura and the surrounding area, and Gihofi in Rutana province. In Bujumbura, MSF supported the treatment of patients at the cholera treatment center at Prince Régent Charles Hospital. On the northern outskirts of the city, our teams built and supported a cholera treatment center at Rubirizi health center with donations of medicines and equipment, training, and reinforcing water and sanitation facilities.
How we're helping
132,100
Malaria cases treated
1,640
People treated for cholera
7,050
People treated for measles
More news and stories
Learn about MSF’s journalistic roots and our commitment to bear witness and speak out about the plight of the people we treat.
Story Dec 30, 2025
From emergency response to long-term care: 10 years in Tanzania's Ndut...
Read more
Learn about MSF’s journalistic roots and our commitment to bear witness and speak out about the plight of the people we treat.
How you can help
Not everyone can treat patients in the field. But everyone can do something.
Some humanitarian crises make the headlines—others don’t. Unrestricted support from our donors allows us to mobilize quickly and efficiently to provide lifesaving medical care to the people who need it most, whether those needs are in the spotlight or not. And your donation is 100 percent tax-deductible.
