Having completed three assignments with Médecins Sans Frontières’ (MSF), Dr Maman Karsou has seen firsthand the impact of vaccination campaigns in fighting epidemics.

In his latest assignment as emergency coordinator in Niger, Dr Karsou managed the mass measles vaccination campaign conducted in collaboration with the local Ministry of Health. Here he discusses the impact of COVID-19, lack of funding, and climate change on campaigns to protect children from measles. 

As the second winter of the pandemic rolls in, the COVID-19 situation in Brazil is again deeply concerning, with national and international experts warning of a third devastating wave. The response remains fragmented and decentralised and the central authorities continue to disregard science—and the importance of masks and social distancing—in their health messaging.

Today we are in mourning after receiving confirmation of the death of three of our colleagues who we were working in Tigray. Maria Hernandez, our emergency coordinator, Yohannes Halefom Reda, our assistant coordinator and Tedros Gebremariam Gebremichael our driver were travelling yesterday afternoon when we lost contact with them. This morning the vehicle was found empty and a few metres away, their lifeless bodies.

The northern province of Cabo Delgado in Mozambique is one of the poorest regions in the country. Those living in Cabo Delgado have been suffering violent attacks from a Non-State Armed Group since 2017—attacks that have left close to 700,000 people displaced, traumatised, and without access to essentials like water and healthcare.

More than three weeks after the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced in and around the city of Goma, in North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The tremors and aftershocks that followed caused widespread fear and threatened new disasters, prompting a mass evacuation.

As the coronavirus pandemic sweeps across Papua New Guinea, fear and concern around the virus and its treatments have become widespread. Combatting this fear is critical to preventing further spread of COVID-19. 

MSF teams are working to combat this stigma and fear—as well as improve physical and mental health—through phone counselling for those who have contracted COVID-19. 

Peru, which in recent days has revised up the number of deaths from COVID-19, currently has the highest COVID-19 mortality rate in the world.

The revelation comes as the country experiences a major gap in its access to vaccines and is still struggling with overwhelmed intensive care units, even if the overall number of cases has declined in recent weeks few weeks. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) expanded our intervention with a new facility in Cusco, to help relieve some of the pressure on treatment of the more critical cases.

After hundreds of Palestinians were injured by the Israeli police in Jerusalem Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) offered clinical support at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) Trauma Stabilisation Point in Wadi al-Joz, Jerusalem on Monday 10 May. Here, Dr Natalie Thurtle, MSF’s Medical Coordinator, describes the work she did along with other MSF colleagues and the PRCS to assess and stabilise the wounded.

In the wake of violence in Jerusalem that left hundreds of Palestinians, including children, with injuries, Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) finds the use of force by Israeli police unacceptable and raises the alarm on the devastating impact of any escalation in the Gaza Strip.