In 2018, the NGO provided assistance in 74 countries. Particularly crucial for all those involved were the two Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the serious conflict on the Gaza Strip, as well as the refugee issues in Libyan prisons.
To date, some 600 people have died of Ebola in the DRC. A further 1,000 have been infected by the dangerous virus. Local treatment centres have been developed and are able to provide newer and better treatments. However, the issue remains that that many people struggle to understand why Doctors Without Borders is intervening there.
The President of Doctors Without Borders Luxembourg, Dr Guy Berchem, explained that it was evident that one would want to contain the situation as much as possible, and that this was being done by providing vaccinations in areas that were affected by the illness. He confirmed that his preventative measure was relatively successful. Vaccinations are also an essential step to take, given that if the epidemic would get out of hand, it might have the potential to kill some 100,000 people. He added that the locals often found this hard to understand.
In the conflict on the border between Gaza Strip and Israel, around 6,500 people have suffered bullet wounds at the hands of the Israeli army. Most of the injuries affected the victims' legs and, in many case, the ammunition had destroyed people's bones. Doctors Without Borders mostly treated victims with serious and complex injuries.
Dr Berchem discussed the need for complex reconstructive surgeries and explained that these kinds of injuries were often infected and challenging to treat under the conditions in Gaza. He added that Doctors Without Borders carried out around 3,000 surgeries of the kind.
Doctors Without Borders also intervened in Libyan prisons where refugees are kept in inhumane conditions. Oftentimes, these people were captured at sea by the Libyan coastguard in agreement with EU. Mistreatment, torture, and rape are commonplace in these prisons. For this reason, Doctors Without Borders became involved in promoting better conditions in these prisons and in ensuring that national and international guidelines are respected.
Dr Berchem described it as unimaginable that these people and their children had to sit in filthy prisons, where there might be just one toilet for hundreds of people.
In 2018, Doctors Without Borders counted some 23,000 donors, a number which the NGO was quite happy with. Nevertheless, the association is always looking for new donors.
The NGO relies on donations in order to continue providing aid throughout the world. Recently, the NGO has launched an urgent appeal for donations in light of the destruction wrought by Cyclone Idai in Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
