Medical Issues | Médecins Sans Frontières New Zealand | Doctors Without Borders

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We work to help the people in greatest need, wherever they are. Our medical teams carry out more than ten million patient consultations a year and our medical activities run from basic vaccination campaigns to complex surgery.

Our emergency medical work extends to neglected, forgotten diseases and long-term care for chronic conditions. We also advocate for affordable, high-quality medicines for the world's poorest people.

COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease)

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on 11 March 2020. Roughly 80 percent of confirmed cases of COVID-19 experience a mild respiratory illness but it has a higher rate of severe complications for vulnerable people – than other viruses such as flu.

Chagas

Chagas is not as well known as diseases such as malaria or cholera yet it affects between six and seven million people and kills up to 12,500 each year.

Ensuring medicines are affordable and available

What good is a breakthrough treatment if the people who need it can’t afford it?

Fistula

An obstetric fistula is a hole between the vagina and the bladder or rectum, through which urine or stool leaks continuously. They are devastating injuries resulting from complicated childbirths, affecting more than two million women worldwide.

HIV SUPPORT GROUP COMMUNITY MAPUTO MOZAMBIQUE

HIV/AIDS

Since its discovery in 1981, HIV/AIDS has killed more than 25 million people. HIV gradually weakens the body’s immune system, usually over a period of up to 10 years after infection.

Kala azar (leishmaniasis)

Kala azar is the second largest parasitic killer in the world - only Malaria is more deadly. Along with Chagas disease and sleeping sickness, kala azar is one of the most dangerous neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

Refugee crisis South Sudan, Upper Nile State, Batil and Doro.

Malaria

Every year, malaria kills around 660,000 people and infects more than 200 million. Ninety percent of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa.

Maternity unit in Domeez Camp, Iraq

Maternal Health

Many women across the world give birth without medical assistance, massively increasing the risk of complications or death. Ninety nine percent of these deaths are in developing countries. The majority are preventable with appropriate care.

Measles

Measles is a highly contagious viral disease characterised by a rash, and mainly affects young children. It is one of the leading causes of death in children, even though it is easily prevented by vaccines.

Meningitis

Meningococcal meningitis is a highly contagious bacterial form of meningitis – a serious inflammation of the meninges – the thin lining that surrounds the brain and spinal cord.

Mental health

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams have offered trauma-related care in over 40 areas around the world, including; the Russian Federation, Sudan (Darfur), Iraq, Congo and Kashmir.

Self-Care

We all want the power to invest in our wellbeing—to be able to take care of our emotional, physical and mental health. But without reliable information and appropriate tools, reasonable options and adequate support, it’s not always possible.

Self-care is changing the face of healthcare. It focuses on equipping and entrusting people to take a central role in their own health. For women, this can involve an important shift to being able to make decisions about their own care, when they may not have had this autonomy before.

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