50 Years of Medecins Sans Frontieres

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), sometimes rendered in English as Doctors Without Borders, is a private aid organisation with an international focus. It was founded in Paris in 1971 and consists mostly of doctors and nurses, but also of people from numerous other professions such as logisticians, administrators and financial and human resource specialists.

The staff provide medical aid in more than 70 countries around the world - wherever human lives are threatened. The main reasons for their missions are armed conflicts, but also epidemics, pandemics and natural disasters or exclusion from the health system. The organisation is 97 per cent financed by private donations.

According to its charter, MSF helps people in need regardless of their ethnic origin or their religious, philosophical or political convictions. In recognition of its pioneering humanitarian work on several continents, the initiative was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999.