DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS
What is it?
Humanitarian action is a gesture of solidarity from civil society to civil society, from person to person, whose purpose is to preserve life and alleviate the suffering of other human beings: this is our reason for being.” |
They are an organization of medical-humanitarian action: they assist people threatened by armed conflict, violence, epidemics or neglected diseases, natural disasters and exclusion from medical care.
They owe their financial independence to the more than six million people and private entities that are members or collaborators of MSF around the world. Thanks to them, they decide who to serve and how, and their only interest is that of the populations they serve. In order to improve their situation, they can also give testimony to report the situations they witness. But they do not aspire to transform a society, but rather to allow it to overcome a critical period: their objective is the people, not the States. For this reason, their interventions are limited in time Our objective is the people, not the States. ” What do they do?When a human group is hit by war, violence or social instability, or the country in which it lives is fragile due to lack of resources, the lack of access to health services becomes widespread: this means that many people will not be able to go to the doctor when they need it, no matter how serious their condition. The care provided by its teams tries to cover the most urgent needs, both at the different levels of medical care (from primary to hospital, through community) and through activities with a great impact on health, such as those related to with water and sanitation.
How do they send help?This logistics network begins at the international supply centers in Brussels (Belgium), Bordeaux (France) and Amsterdam (Netherlands), which supply the entire organization. In addition, they have a warehouse for basic necessities and shelter material in Dubai (United Arab Emirates).
These centrals buy, store and manage shipments to regular projects and emergency teams: medicines, medical, health, logistics, administrative material and equipment ... When they arrive at the warehouses, all these goods first go through a quality control. Given the volume of activity in the field and the efficiency of supply management, the turnover of material in our plants is very high: in two or three weeks, almost everything has been shipped and replaced. |
The cost of transport depends on the urgency and the volume and weight of the cargo: a major nutritional emergency may require the charter of a Boeing 747, which can cost more than 200,000 euros depending on the final destination. In a major emergency, when there is a high demand for charges, prices skyrocket.
Kits, world reference
To carry out its medical-humanitarian activities, MSF uses some 5,000 different items, so organizing them in kits is essential to speed up shipments. The kits are assembled from standardized lists: this ensures that your teams in the field receive, immediately and in one go, all the necessary material for each type of intervention. They were the first organization to develop them, in the 80s, and today they are a reference in the humanitarian world.
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There are internal functioning kits (communications, transport, administration, electricity and others) and aid kits (first aid, surgery, hygiene, vaccination, shelter, those specialized in specific pathologies such as cholera, etc.).
They have about 480 different types of kits, of varying complexity: some are relatively simple, such as the first aid kit, while others require a whole plane to transport, such as the cholera one. Among the most used with the displaced population is hygiene: it includes soap for personal use and for clothes and dishes, towels, toothbrush and toothpaste, diapers, comb, mirror and other basic items for a family to regain a certain normality in your daily life.
The more complex kits are divided into modules: the surgical one includes modules of anesthesia, suture, dressings and bandages, sterilization, operating tables, etc. Ebola is one of the most expensive: it contains medicines, equipment for blood samples, logistics, sanitation and isolation material, protective suits ...: about 80 boxes, with a cost of more than 60,000 euros.
In addition, there is a long list of logistics kits: the radio communications kits have receivers, transmitters, repeaters, antennas, adapters, cables, batteries, basic tools, etc.
They have about 480 different types of kits, of varying complexity: some are relatively simple, such as the first aid kit, while others require a whole plane to transport, such as the cholera one. Among the most used with the displaced population is hygiene: it includes soap for personal use and for clothes and dishes, towels, toothbrush and toothpaste, diapers, comb, mirror and other basic items for a family to regain a certain normality in your daily life.
The more complex kits are divided into modules: the surgical one includes modules of anesthesia, suture, dressings and bandages, sterilization, operating tables, etc. Ebola is one of the most expensive: it contains medicines, equipment for blood samples, logistics, sanitation and isolation material, protective suits ...: about 80 boxes, with a cost of more than 60,000 euros.
In addition, there is a long list of logistics kits: the radio communications kits have receivers, transmitters, repeaters, antennas, adapters, cables, batteries, basic tools, etc.