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{{ subitems[item.mlid].linktitle }}Coronavirus COVID-19
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic around the world.
The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global emergency and MSF teams are responding in more than 70 countries. We see how the rapid spread of the disease has overwhelmed healthcare systems, disrupted economies and altered livelihoods and lifestyles in many parts of the world.
As of January 2021, COVID-19 has killed more than 1.9 million people and there are over 88 million confirmed cases around the world according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
MSF's COVID-19 response focuses on three main priorities |
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• Supporting authorities to provide care for COVID-19 patients. |
Across our projects, MSF teams have been improving infection, prevention and control (IPC) measures to protect patients and staff and prevent further COVID-19 spread. It is crucial to prevent health facilities from amplifying the pandemic of being forced to close their doors.
MSF's global response to the COVID-19 pandemic
The magnitude of the global pandemic reflects the extensive need for our teams' medical care and disease preventon expertise. MSF implemented COVID-19 support in various ongoing projects around the world including in Latin American countries, in Yemen and in Syria.
Additionally, MSF responded in non-traditional settings such as Italy, France and the United States.
What is MSF doing?
Protecting vulnerable people
A majority of MSF's work supports refugees, internally displaced people and people on the move. We're concerned how people living in precarious environments will be affected by the pandemic. People living in overcrowded conditions, on the streets, in makeshift camps or substandard housing are often at increased risk of COVID-19.
In refugee camps, many are already in vulnerable health conditions and are excluded from formal healthcare systems. We know measures such as physical distancing and washing hands can be difficult if even possible.
Maintaining healthcare
During the pandemic, babies will still be born and people will still require treatments for diseases like HIV. Maintaining access to healthcare for non-COVID-19 needs is essential. In other projects around the world, our teams are ensuring IPC measures are in place, setting up screening at triage zones, creating isolation areas and providing health education to locally-hired staff and to communities.
Protecting healthcare workers
Protecting healthcare workers from contracting the virus is paramount for ensuring the continuity of care for general as well as COVID-related health needs. However, the global shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) pose a great threat. Healthcare workers must have access to the equipment they need to do their jobs safely and effectively. In 2020, MSF called for PPE to be distributed equitably and transparently.
MSF's response to COVID-19 in Canada
COVID-19 is an unprecedented threat to global health systems including in countries that traditionally have high-functioning health systems.
In March 2020, MSF Canada's Board of Directors took the exceptional decision to launch an operational response targeting communities in Canada most vulnerable to the spread of COVID-19 and its impacts. These groups included people experiencing homelessness, people living in remote and Indigenous communities, people living in long-term care facilities and healthcare and front-line workers.
The justification for an MSF intervention was based on an analysis of needs, response gap and MSF's unique added value as well as feasibility. In keeping with MSF's social mission, any undertaking in Canada was designed to prevent the furthering of global, institutional or social inequalities.
Our role was largely advisory, sharing information based on our experiences working in epidemic settings such as cholera and Ebola, with operations concluding in July 2020.
MSF's advocacy: Calls to action
There should be no profiteering on existing or emerging COVID-19 drugs, tests, vaccines or other tools used for this pandemic. Medical innovations and technologies created with public money should be accessible and affordable for public health needs.
In October 2020, MSF Canada delivered a petition with more than 91,000 signatures to Canada's Minister of Health. We called on the Canadian government to take immediate steps to ensure fair, affordable and equitable access to health technologies developed with Canadian public funds, including any innovations developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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View more information about COVID-19 - Novel Coronavirus: MSF Canada Resources
In Canada, MSF has used its expertise in emergency outbreak response, providing valuable guidance to medical organizations, government agencies and Indigenous communities to prevent and manage COVID-19 outbreaks. MSF Canada also created two eBriefings related to COVID-19, one on infection prevention and control (IPC) and another on adapting and developing medical facilities. Learn more about MSF Canada's COVID-19 resources.
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View more information about Responding to COVID-19: Global Accountability Report 2 - June to August 2020
This report is the second of the accountability reports MSF is producing on our COVID-19 response. Read also the first report, covering the period March - May 2020.
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Over 100 countries support the landmark proposal.
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View more information about Governments must demand pharma make all COVID-19 vaccine licensing deals public
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View more information about MSF responds to COVID-19 in Jordan's largest refugee camp
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View more information about In remote Kyrgyzstan, COVID-19 puts strain on health system
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View more information about Mexico: MSF supports migrants and homeless people at risk of COVID-19
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View more information about COVID-19 in Mexico: MSF opens two centres in Reynosa & Matamoros
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View more information about Venezuela: MSF opens COVID-19 centre in Caracas
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View more information about Unregulated market for PPE is putting lives at risk
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View more information about Adapting our way of working and keeping essential medical services running during the COVID-19 pandemic
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View more information about COVID-19: in Aden's only treatment centre we are seeing a catastrophe unfold
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View more information about COVID-19 in West Africa: 'Let's prepare for a long-distance run'
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View more information about Responding to Cholera as COVID-19 threatens Kenya's health system
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View more information about COVID-19 and lack of protective equipment threaten life-saving medical care for vulnerable people in Mathare, Kenya
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View more information about Responding to COVID-19 in conflict-affected eastern Ukraine
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View more information about Eswatini: Responding to COVID-19 in a country already fighting a dual HIV/TB epidemic
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View more information about COVID-19: MSF provides critically-needed medical care in Tijuana
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View more information about Northeast Syria: First confirmed COVID-19 case increases concerns for preparedness
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View more information about Countering COVID-19 not a free pass to court tragedy in the Mediterranean Sea
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View more information about COVID-19: MSF supports response in Cameroon
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View more information about MSF responds to COVID-19 in Canada
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View more information about Paris, France: COVID-19 response must be accessible for most vulnerable
By Annelise Coury, who is coordinating MSF’s response to COVID-19 in the region.
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View more information about Iraq: MSF supports hospitals responding to the COVID-19 outbreak
Recent days have seen a significant rise in the number of patients with COVID-19 in Iraq, with over 1000 infections and 60 confirmed deaths, according to the MOH.
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View more information about Northwest Syria: Navigating COVID-19 in precarious context
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View more information about Yemen: Authorities must do all they can to facilitate COVID-19 response
More PPE and testing capacity urgently needs to be imported into Yemen both for the national health system and for humanitarian organizations.
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View more information about COVID-19 in Tanzania: Refugees in host camps most vulnerable
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View more information about COVID-19: MSF scales up activities in Lebanon
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View more information about Tenosique, Mexico: MSF calls for new measures for migrants following detention centre fire
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View more information about COVID-19 in France: Ensuring continued access to medical care for vulnerable people in Paris and the suburbs
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View more information about COVID-19: MSF launches it's largest ever response in Belgium
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View more information about Northwest Syria: COVID-19 adds an additional layer of complexity
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View more information about Closing Canada’s border to refugee claimants is dangerous and illegal, and must be reversed?
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View more information about Idlib, Syria: MSF continues providing relief items and adapts response to COVID-19 threat
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View more information about COVID-19: MSF calls for no patents or profiteering on drugs, tests and vaccines in pandemic
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View more information about Italy: “A new approach to public health, the big change needed to fight COVID-19”
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View more information about COVID-19 in Italy: Medical staff working beyond limits in Italian epicentre
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View more information about COVID-19 in Cote d'Ivoire: Preparation is key to coping with pandemic
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View more information about COVID-19 in West Africa: Focus on the most vulnerable and learning from the past
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View more information about COVID-19: Inclusion of asylum seekers is more effective than closing borders
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View more information about COVID-19: MSF steps up response in Spain
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View more information about 'We can't let them down': COVID-19 hurts the most vulnerable
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View more information about COVID-19: A letter from Dr. Christos Christou, MSF International President
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View more information about COVID-19: MSF prepares for action in France as spread continues
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View more information about COVID-19: Urgent help needed across European borders to protect medical staff
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View more information about COVID-19: What is MSF doing?
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View more information about COVID-19: Evacuation of squalid Greek camps more urgent than ever
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View more information about COVID-19: MSF starts response activities in four northern Italian hospitals
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View more information about COVID-19: Ocean Viking arbitrarily quarantined by Italian authorities over fears
« Il s'agit d'une action discriminatoire – les seuls navires mis en quarantaine sont ceux qui effectuent des opérations de sauvetage. »
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View more information about COVID-19: Preparing in South-east Asia
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View more information about COVID-19: Providing materials and engaging communities during outbreak
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View more information about COVID-19 (formerly known nCoV-2019)
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