How Doctors Without Borders Contributes to Humanitarian Medical Assistance

Doctors Without Borders (MSF): Medical Humanitarianism

Introduction

            Military conflicts, natural disasters, and poverty left behind a trail of destructions, including significant human development and life threats. Apart from food, the most immediate need for victims of such occurrences is medical treatment. However, victims, especially in developing countries, often find it difficult to receive adequate medical assistance due to regional politics, political boundaries, and inequality. As the name suggests, Doctors Without Borders (also called Médecins Sans Frontières) is an independent international organization that provides humanitarian medical assistance to such victims without the restriction of borders or boundaries, be it physical or those established through political, cultural, religious, and ethical practices. In other words, the organization assists all people in need regardless of their national, cultural, religious, and traditional backgrounds. The purpose of the current paper is to report on the organization by focusing on its contribution to public health and safety improvement, how it promotes equal opportunity, and its role in improving quality of life. Such information informs nurses who may want to volunteer in the organization.

About MSF

            MSF was established in Paris in 1971 by doctors and journalists. The formation resulted from lessons taken from people’s suffering, mainly from war and poverty in the 20^th century. Journalists and doctors were always at the forefront, whether in war or where natural disasters have occurred. Therefore, the intention was to establish a network of humanitarian medical assistance based on their experiences. The purpose of MSF is to provide medical assistance to people affected by conflict, disasters, epidemics, and exclusion from healthcare (MSF, 2021). The organization is non-profit, self-governed, and member-based. Today, it is a worldwide network with an estimated 65,000 people bound together by a charter. Principles of impartiality and medical ethics guide the organization’s actions. 

            Based on impartiality and medical ethics principles, the organization is often involved in different yet related humanitarian activities globally. Figure 1 below summarizes the organization’s activities in 2020 alone. Key highlights include outpatient consultation, treatment of malaria cases, vaccination against measles, admission of patients, and emergency room admissions (MSF, 2021). Involvement in such an extensive network of activities requires a comprehensive and sustainable source of resources and particularly funds. The organization gets 92% of its finances from private donors who support an annual budget of at least $1.4 billion. In 2020, for instance, income from private donors was $1.6 billion, while that from the private organization was $0.2 billion (MSF, International Financial Report - 2020, 2021).

            Despite having a good mission, MSF activities have cost too. For instance, the organization must continuously scrutinize donations and accept only those aligned with its mission. In 2016, for instance, MSF refused a $63 million donation from the E.U. because of the previous policies that blocked refugees from Europe (Cumming-bruce, 2016). In another incident, MSF’s Afghan hospital serving victims of conflict was erroneously bombed by American airstrikes in which 42 people perished (Rosenberg, 2016). Therefore, the NGO is an ideal destination for people willing to offer humanitarian medical assistance, be it funds, resources, or services, mainly because those involved face many risks to make the world a better place for everyone. Figure 1: MSF Activities Summary - 2020

Contribution to Public Health and Safety Improvement

            Public health is concerned about preventing people from getting sick or injured and ensuring that those who get sick have access to quality care. In 2020 (see figure 1), the NGO vaccinated over one million children against measles in response to an outbreak, distributed 395,000 families with relief items, and treated over 2.6 million malaria cases. In Niger, for instance, the organization has established a ped...