Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)/Doctors Without Borders-Ireland

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international humanitarian organisation that delivers emergency medical aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural or man-made disasters, or exclusion from health care in more than 75 countries.

Each year, MSF doctors, nurses, logistics specialists, water-and-sanitation experts, administrators, and other medical and non-medical professionals depart on more than 3000 field assignments. They work alongside more than 25000 locally hired staff to provide medical care.

In emergencies and their aftermath, MSF provides health care, rehabilitates and runs hospitals and clinics, performs surgery, battles epidemics, carries out vaccination campaigns, operates feeding centres for malnourished children, and offers mental health care. When needed, MSF also constructs wells, dispenses clean drinking water, and provides shelter materials such as blankets and plastic sheeting.

Through longer-term programmes, MSF treats patients with infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, sleeping sickness, and HIV/AIDS, and provides medical and psychological care to marginalised groups such as street children.

MSF was founded in 1971 as a non-governmental organisation to both provide emergency medical assistance and bear witness publicly to the plight of the people it assists. A private non-profit association, MSF is an international network with offices in 19 countries.