Brazil

OUR COVID-19 RESPONSE IN BRAZIL

Our responses

MedicalEquipping healthcare staff
MSF is working is north Amazonas, in Atalaia do Norte and Benjamin Constant municipalities, to prepare local health staff in case a new wave of cases strikes the area. MSF teams are working on patient flow, rapid testing, mental health and health promotion, with a focus on infection prevention and control (IPC) training in clinics and hospitals.

Completed COVID-19 projects in Brazil

  • COVID-19 care activities in Manaus: During our activities, MSF staff worked in the public hospital and managed 12 beds in the intensive care unit, along with 36 beds for moderate and severe cases of COVID-19. We also ran an isolation centre for migrant Venezuelan indigenous people with suspected COVID-19.
  • São Paulo palliative care project: Management of our palliative care services has been passed to the Tide Setubal hospital staff. MSF is providing some staff for to ensure a smooth transition. 
  • Equipping healthcare staff in Bahia: From June to August MSF ran a project to prepare the local staff in the municipalities of Xique-Xique, Cocos and Riachão das Neves, focusing on rapid testing training.
  • Rapid testing and mobile clinics: In Fortaleza, Ceara, in June, MSF focused on mobile clinics with rapid testing and health promotion activities. In Patos, Pariaba, in July, we established rapid testing points in the city and also.provided IPC training. In Portel, Pará, MSF teams provided IPC support and rapid testing for local health staff and mobile clinics in hard-to-reach communities.
     

MSF first worked in Brazil in 1991.

Following the Haiti earthquake of January 2010, thousands of Haitians fled the devastation and sought asylum in Brazil. Stranded in the border town Tabatinga, and unable to work or leave until they received authorisation, many were living in extremely poor conditions. In November of 2010, Médecins Sans Frontières began offering psychological support and distributed washing kits. 

By January of 2012, the Brazilian Ministry of Justice announced that some 4,000 Haitians would be granted residence and work visas. The federal government also opened up legal migration opportunities from Haiti. With the improvement in the situation, MSF’s program was closed in February 2012.

Many Haitians left Tabatinga for the city of Manaus, and an MSF team provided training in mental healthcare and health promotion to health staff and social workers in Manaus.

Médecins Sans Frontières has been working in Afghanistan since 1980, providing emergency surgical care, responding to conflict and natural disasters, and treating people cut off from healthcare. 

MSF worked in Angola from 1983 until 2007. Why were we there? Armed conflict Endemic/Epidemic disease Social violence/Healthcare exclusion

MSF worked in Argentina from 2001 until 2003. Why were we there? Providing essential medicines and supplies

MSF worked in Belgium from 1987 to 2009

Why are we there? Endemic/epidemic disease

Why are we there? Endemic/epidemic disease Social violence/healthcare exclusion Natural disaster

Why are we there? Endemic/Epidemic disease

Cameroon is facing multiple and overlapping crises, including recurrent epidemics, malnutrition due to food insecurity, displacement, and conflict.

Why are we there? Armed conflict Endemic/epidemic disease Healthcare exclusion

Why are we there? Armed conflict Healthcare exclusion Natural disaster

The political, economic and military crises of 2002-2010 have taken a severe toll on the Ivorian health system.

MSF worked in Ecuador until 2007. Why were we there? Endemic/Epidemic disease Natural disaster

Find out more about MSF's work in Egypt

In France, we work with migrants and refugees, who encounter policies and practices aimed at preventing them from settling or claiming their rights.

Why are we there? Healthcare exclusion

Why are we there? Armed conflict Endemic/epidemic disease Social violence/heathcare exclusion

Why are we there? Endemic/epidemic disease

Haiti’s healthcare system remains precarious in the wake of natural disasters and ongoing political and economic crises. Ongoing disasters have led to Haiti becoming the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

Honduras has experienced years of political, economic and social instability, and has one of the highest rates of violence in the world. This has great medical, psychological and social consequences for people.

An MSF team in Hong Kong opened a project at the end of January focusing on health education for vulnerable people. Community engagement is a crucial activity of any outbreak response and in Hong Kong, this focuses on groups who are less likely to have access to important medical information, such as the socio-economically disadvantaged. The team is also targeting those who are more vulnerable to developing severe disease if they are infected, such as the elderly.

MSF worked in Indonesia between 1995 and 2009 Why were we there? Natural disaster

Find out about MSF's work in Iran

Why we are there? Healthcare exclusion Natural disaster

Why are we there? Natural disasters

Jordan hosts over 700,000 refugees, according to the UNHCR, many of whom reside in camps or have settled in the country.

Why are we there? Endemic/epidemic disease Healthcare exclusion

Why are we there? Healthcare exclusion

Although health services are being progressively restored in Liberia, important gaps persist, notably in specialised paediatric care and mental health.

Libya remains fragmented by a decade of conflict and political instability. The breakdown of law and order, the collapse of the economy, and fighting have decimated the healthcare system.

Why are we there? Endemic/epidemic disease Natural disaster

Access to medical care remains very limited in the north and centre of Mali due to a lack of medical staff and supplies and spiralling violence between armed groups.

Why are we there? Access to healthcare

In Mozambique we are responding to emergencies including disease outbreaks, providing care to people with advanced HIV, while also working in the conflict-ridden Cabo-Delgado province.

Why are we there? Endemic/epidemic disease Social violence/healthcare exclusion

Why are we there? Providing comprehensive emergency healthcare to people in remote regions of Pakistan is a priority, yet accessibility and security are a constraint for both Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and patients.

Why are we there? Armed conflict Healthcare exclusion

At the end of 2007, MSF ended its activities in Rwanda after 16 years in the country. MSF's work included assistance to displaced persons, war surgery, programmes for unaccompanied children and street children, support to victims traumatised by the conflict, programmes to improve access to healthcare, responding to epidemics such as malaria, cholera and tuberculosis, and projects linked to maternal and reproductive health.

Why are we there? Endemic/epidemic disease Healthcare exclusion

Why are we there? Armed conflict Endemic/epidemic disease Healthcare exclusion

Why were we there? Endemic/epidemic disease Healthcare exclusion

Why are we there? Refugee assistance

Why are we there? Healthcare exclusion

Why are we there? Armed conflict Endemic/Epidemic disease Healthcare exclusion

Why were we there? Healthcare exclusion

Why are we there? Endemic/epidemic disease

Why are we there? Endemic/epidemic disease Social violence Healthcare exclusion