Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is an international and independent medical humanitarian organisation delivering emergency medical aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural disasters, and exclusion from healthcare. MSF was founded in 1971 in Paris in the belief that all people should have access to healthcare regardless of gender, race, religion or political affiliation.
Today, we are a worldwide movement of nearly 65,000 people. We work in over 70 countries providing medical care where the need is greatest. Our actions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of impartiality, independence and neutrality. We are a non-profit, self-governed, member-based organisation.
Our medical teams act fast to save people’s lives in conflict zones, natural disasters and epidemics. Everywhere we work, the circumstances are unique, but rapid and effective response to emergencies is at the core of our work.
When a crisis like COVID-19 strikes, our doctors, nurses and midwives are on the frontline of the response. Supported by 50 years of experience responding to emergencies, our teams work to protect the most vulnerable — people whose lives are in danger, who are at risk of hunger and disease, people trapped in conflict zones where health systems have collapsed, people who are excluded from healthcare, or at risk of exploitation.
Whether it's performing emergency war surgery, vaccinating children against deadly diseases, or assisting mothers with childbirth — we put our patients’ needs first.
In 1991, we were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The judges chose MSF “in recognition of the organisation’s pioneering humanitarian work on several continents” and to honour our medical staff, who have worked in more than 80 countries and treated tens of millions of people.
The proceeds from the prize were used to set up a Neglected Disease Fund, designed to support pilot projects for the clinical development, production, procurement and distribution of treatments for neglected diseases, such as Chagas, sleeping sickness and malaria.
The act of humanitarianism comes down to one thing: individual human beings reaching out to those others who find themselves in the most difficult circumstances. And they reach out one bandage at a time, one suture at a time, one vaccination at a time. Humanitarian responsibility has no frontiers.
Your donation to MSF helps to provide medical aid to people affected by crisis, disasters and war in places like Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Syria, Yemen and beyond. Every dollar we receive comes from individuals like you. It’s only with this support that we can reach and care for people living in extreme circumstances – no matter who they are, no matter where they are.
We have an immense respect for our supporters and the use of Médecins Sans Frontières funds are tightly controlled and the audited financial reports are publicly available.
These donations pay for millions of consultations, surgeries, treatments and vaccinations every year in places where people would otherwise be cut off from medical care.
Thanks to the generous support of people like you, our teams on the ground can provide urgent medical care to hundreds of thousands of people every day.
