The most urgent humanitarian crises of 2008 published by MSF
A child is assessed for malnutrition in the Oromiya region of Ethiopia. June 2008.
Photo by Juan Carlos Tomasi/MSF
Part of MSF's mission is to bring the world's attention to the plight of the people we help around the world. Often the crises that they live through are ignored by the world's media and at the bottom of the priority list for the international community. However, MSF provides medical aid in over sixty countries, so every Christmas, we release a list of the ten that our teams on the ground deem to be the most urgent of these crises.
Some of the emergency situations that occupy this list are specific countries, such as Somalia, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Some are issues, such as child malnutrition or HIV and tuberculosis co-infection.
The 'top ten' list is below, but you can read more by clicking here to visit the Top Ten Humanitarian Crises special report. Or, you can read the press release here.
For more information and articles on any of the countries or diseases you read about, please go to our news archive and use the search function on the right.
The worst humanitarian and medical emergencies in the world in 2008 as seen by MSF workers:
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Somalia’s humanitarian catastrophe worsens
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Myanmar: despite attention brought on by cyclone, medical needs go ignored
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Civilians trapped as war rages in Eastern Congo
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Health crisis sweeps Zimbabwe as violence and economic collapse spread
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Millions of malnourished children left untreated despite advances in lifesaving therapies
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Civilians denied assistance in Ethiopia’s Somali Region
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Civilians killed and forced to flee as fighting intensifies in Northwestern Pakistan
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No end in sight to conflicts in Sudan
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Iraqi civilians in urgent need of assistance
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HIV/TB co-infection: a health battle on two fronts.
As MSF International Council President Dr. Christophe Fournier says, “working on the frontlines of crisis zones throughout the world, MSF medical teams witness firsthand the medical and psychological consequences people endure from extreme violence, displacement, and neglected - yet treatable - diseases and health needs. In some of these places, it is extremely difficult for aid groups to access populations requiring help. Where we are able to provide assistance, we have a special responsibility to bear witness and speak out about intolerable suffering and draw attention to basic humanitarian needs—needs that are often largely ignored.”