Doctors without Borders

Organization

The primary organization maintains support offices in over 60 countries and partners with 19 associative organizations, allowing for global coverage. Each country is divided into field offices comprising over 22,000 administrative [Page 295]and medical staff. This includes physicians, nurses, radiological technicians, laboratory technicians, surgeons, and mental health professionals. Supportive care is provided by logisticians, water and wastewater treatment engineers, and communications personnel. Epidemiologists, chemists, and pharmacists provide medical care, pharmacy services, and specialized medications in areas affected by epidemics such as human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), malaria, tuberculosis, cholera, or similar outbreaks. Each site is managed by volunteer administrators who are charged with ensuring that all services run smoothly. Doctors Without Borders works with local physicians and hospitals in order to enhance the quality of medical care instead of trying to replace it. This method increases the likelihood that local agencies will work with the organization to provide the best medical care possible.

A malnourished child waits in a Doctors Without Borders treatment tent in the Dolo Ado camp, near Ethiopia's border with Somalia, July 2011. The United Nations declared a famine in five regions of Somalia by early August. By December, “Malnutrition rates are still very high; this is still an emergency situation,” said Voitek Asztabski, emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in the camp. Over 50 percent of children in the camp were suffering from malnutrition at that time, according to the United Nations.

Team Medical Equipment

Doctors Without Borders responds to crises using the latest, most advanced medical equipment available. The majority of the medical equipment is designed to be used in the field environment, making it fully transportable and easily moved. This is especially important in areas of armed conflict because the team may be required to quickly relocate in order to protect staff, patients, and equipment. The organization has the ability to provide medical care in mobile sites, temporary sites, and fixed locations such as former hospitals. Equipment includes radiological equipment to conduct X-rays, exam areas, emergency triage and treatment equipment, specialized surgical [Page 296]equipment, laboratory equipment, and mobile pharmacies. Moreover, each site is fully self-supportive with both water filtration equipment and wastewater treatment facilities. Comfort care is provided in the form of free blankets, pillows, and clothing.

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