It’s hard to believe that there are still countries where residents can’t receive adequate healthcare; from normal doctor’s visits to hospital care when an emergency occurs. The World Health Organization reports that most third world countries don’t have the same access to trained physicians that other countries have.
That’s where Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), known internationally in English as Doctors Without Borders comes into the picture. The organization was founded on one of these main principle explained by the one of the founders, Bernard Kouchner, “It’s simple really: go where the patients are. It seems obvious but at the time it was a revolutionary concept because borders got in the way.”
That’s exactly how the organization started. In May 1968 a group of young doctors decided to go into Paris to help victims of war and major disaster. This event would redefine the way the world saw emergency aid.
Doctors Without Borders was officially created on December 22, 1971 with 300 volunteers making up the organization. The volunteers ranged from doctors to nurses, and other staff, including journalist. It was founded on the belief that “all people have the right to medical care regardless of gender, race, religion, creed or political affiliation, and that the needs of these people outweigh respect for national boundaries.” The program provides assistance when catastrophic events take over and overwhelm the local healthcare system. Doctors Without Borders also assists people who face discrimination or neglect from their local health systems or when populations are otherwise excluded from health care.
Since it’s creation, Doctors Without Borders has opened offices in 28 countries and has treated over a hundred million patients worldwide.
The neutral and impartial humanitarian organization has recently been in the news for its criticism of the international response to the Ebola Outbreak in a report they published earlier this year. They have also been working in Ukraine to provide assistance along the front lines of battle and in South Africa to assist people displaced by the Xenophobic Violence.
You can read more on Doctors Without borders and the work that they do at www.doctorswithoutborders.org
Photo Courtesy of Travis Lupick via Flickr
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