With a population of over 190 million, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous country in the world.
One of the fastest growing economies in the world, petroleum and oil resources play a large role in Nigerian economic prospects. However, the security situation in many areas of the country has deteriorated in recent years, and violence and displacement have taken their toll on people’s health.
MSF has been responding to disease outbreaks and emergency health needs in Nigeria since 1971, focusing on maternal and paediatric healthcare throughout the country.
Since May 2013, a violent insurrection by armed groups has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes in northeast Nigeria. As such, a humanitarian crisis is raging in the Lake Chad region.
Vast numbers of people have been caught up in the conflict, and their access to medical services has been greatly reduced. Access to areas held by armed opposition groups, or contested by the two sides, has been restricted, and little is known about the needs of people in these locations.
Thousands have been killed in conflict, and many more by malnutrition, measles and malaria. People are unable to farm or sell their goods and mass displacement has resulted in catastrophic living conditions.
In some enclaves controlled by the military, people are unable to farm or fish due to restrictions on their movements, making them heavily dependent on humanitarian assistance.
Despite the insecurity and challenges in accessing many areas, we have teams in Borno and Yobe providing healthcare and responding to emergencies in fixed and mobile facilities. Our staff manage mental health activities, monitor food, water and shelter needs, and respond to disease outbreaks.
MSF conducts monitoring for epidemic-prone diseases such as meningitis, measles, cholera and Lassa fever. We run mass vaccination campaigns across the country and our teams also provide seasonal malaria chemoprevention.
People are gathered, isolated and cut off in a half-destroyed town, and are totally dependent on external assistance, which is cruelly lacking. If we don’t manage quickly to provide them with food, water and urgent medical supplies, malnutrition and disease will continue to wreak havoc.
Another MSF staff help run maternity and neonatal departments and support basic obstetrics in health centres to reduce complications during pregnancy.
MSF supports a reconstructive surgery project in the Noma Children’s Hospital in Sokoto for patients with Noma disease and other conditions. As well as surgery, the team provides pre- and post-operative care and mental health support and active case finding in the region.
It is estimated that nearly sixty-thousand women die from complications during pregnancy and childbirth every year in Nigeria, and one in eight children dies before the age of five. © Verli / MSF
We run a program for victims of sexual and gender-based violence in Rivers state, organising outreach and community-based awareness activities in schools, police stations and through media. The project also includes preventive treatment for sexually transmitted infections, emergency contraception, counselling and psychosocial support.
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
Why are we there? Endemic/epidemic disease Social violence/healthcare exclusion Natural disaster
Why are we there? Armed conflict Endemic/epidemic disease Healthcare exclusion
Why are we there? Armed conflict Healthcare exclusion Natural disaster
MSF worked in Ecuador until 2007. Why were we there? Endemic/Epidemic disease Natural disaster
Why are we there? Armed conflict Endemic/epidemic disease Social violence/heathcare exclusion
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.
Why are we there? Armed conflict Social violence Healthcare exclusion Endemic/epidemic disease
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
MSF ended its operations in Liberia in 2012. Why were we there? Endemic/epidemic disease Social violence/healthcare exclusion
Why are we there? Conflict Endemic/epidemic disease Healthcare exclusion
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.
MSF worked in Rwanda from 1991 until 2007.
Why were we there? Conflict Healthcare exclusion Endemic/Epidemic disease
Why are we there? Endemic/epidemic disease Healthcare exclusion
Why are we there? Armed conflict Endemic/epidemic disease Healthcare exclusion
Why are we there? Armed conflict Endemic/Epidemic disease Healthcare exclusion
Why are we there? Endemic/epidemic disease Social violence Healthcare exclusion
