The conflict in Yemen, rooted in a failed political transition, has been simmering since 2011. Renewed conflict on the frontlines of Yemen’s Red Sea Coast has become some of the most intense in the country, increasing the number of civilians needing major war-trauma surgery.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) / Doctors Without Borders calls for an end to the indiscriminate and unacceptable attacks on civilians in Yemen.

In 2020, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) provided medical care for people in more than 70 countries. From responding to disease epidemics to providing healthcare in conflict zones, here are some of the most memorable stories from our patients over the last year. 

Nurses and midwives are the backbone of Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) multidisciplinary teams. They also fulfill diverse and critical roles in health promotion, patient education and community care. 

Throughout 2020, MSF is celebrating the efforts of nurses and midwives and highlighting their daily contributions in and alongside MSF projects.

As COVID-19 continues to spread around the world, the danger of patients waiting too long to seek treatment is all too clear to MSF staff responding to the crisis.

Dr Rachel Lister, an intensive care doctor from New Zealand, spent six weeks working in MSF’s COVID-19 treatment centre in Aden. She highlights three patients' stories that had a profound impact on her during her field placement in Yemen.

Dr Khairil Musa, an intensive care doctor from Sydney, reflects on his time working with MSF in Aden, Yemen

With most patients arriving at the COVID-19 treatment centre only once their symptoms have become severe, the healthcare staff remaining face a challenging task in bringing the outbreak under control.

The number of deaths occurring in the COVID-19 treatment centre that Médecins sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) runs in Aden, Yemen, speaks to a wider catastrophe unfolding in the city and the UN and donor states need to do more urgently to help the response.