MSF - Medecins Sans Frontieres

In 2007 MSF opened a project treating patients suffering from kala azar in Vaishali district, Bihar State. MSF works closely with the Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS) in Patna.

Kala azar treatment is provided in the project in Vaishali District in three facility levels; Hajipur Sadar Hospital, Primary Health Centres and Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS).

The project has been very successful with 2470 patients treated for kala azar from July 2007 to December 2008, and 6547 patients screened for kala azar the same period. A cure rate of over 98% has been achieved.

In 2008 MSF carried out a nutritional survey in Darbhanga District in Bihar State. This found levels of severe acute malnutrition in children aged under 5 years. As a result of these findings MSF opened a nutritional treatment project in January 2009.

MSF has since 2004 carried out several emergency interventions in response to serious flooding in Bihar state.

In 2008 MSF immediately responded with an emergency intervention to a very serious flood in Bihar State. More than 17,000 free medical consultations were conducted, over 4,000 children screened for malnutrition and over 9,500 NFI kits distributed.

Whilst India offers high-end medical care to medical tourists, basic healthcare for millions of Indians remains seriously flawed, if not absent altogether. MSF is active in areas where conflict prevails and access to health care is limited by lack of security, like Kashmir, Chhattisgarh and Manipur. Several sections of MSF have programmes in India. MSF Holland has been working in India since 1999 and currently provides basic health care to some of the country’s most neglected communities.

MSF is the only international medical humanitarian organization in Chhattisgarh state providing direct, impartial medical assistance to the people in the south of the state. The project is aimed at people who have been isolated by the conflict between State forces and Maoist rebels. Thousands of people have restricted access to health care. MSF runs mobile medical clinics to several local communities in Bijapur area, offers malaria treatment (Artemisinine Combination Therapy or ACT) and is preparing to provide hospital services in Bijapur town. In 2008 MSF treated 3,305 people affected with malaria.

MSF is also present in Indian-administered Kashmir. Our teams provide basic health care and psychosocial counselling to a population traumatized by over 20 years of violence in the Kashmir Valley. Step by step, MSF has succeeded in creating more awareness about psychosocial problems among the population. In 2008, MSF’s mental health program treated 6,324 patients. MSF supports 6 clinics in Kupwara district with basic health care and vaccination services and conducted over 10,000 consultations in 2008.

In Manipur, MSF runs basic health care clinics with an emphasis on diagnosis and treatment of HIV/AIDS (including second line treatment) and TB. The project in Manipur started in 2004 and steadily developed in the following years. Our medical teams now offer complete basic health care services to people in the south west of Manipur state, ranging from counselling to TB care and maternity services. In 2008, MSF conducted over 50,000 consultations. So far MSF has started 781 HIV positive patients on antiretroviral treatment (ART), of which about a quarter have now been transferred to the national HIV/AIDS programme.

In October 2007 MSF Holland closed its basic health care project in Assam recognizing the capacity of the Ministry of Health to cover basic needs. Over the years, a key focus had been to optimize the management of the treatment of (falciparum) malaria.

MSF has carried out several emergency interventions in response to serious natural disasters in India over the years. In 2008, MSF provided medical assistance to the victims of the flooding in Bihar state and distributed non-food-items to over 50,000 people.

In North Mumbai MSF runs an ART center which provides comprehensive care for HIV positive patients who require treatment not yet available in the public sector. This includes patients who experience severe side effects from first line medicines, patients infected with HIV 2, patients with co-infections (Hepatitis B; MDR TB) and those who urgently need second line anti-retroviral treatment (ART) but do not meet the criteria to be treated within the public healthcare system. MSF also provides free care and treatment to marginalized groups which may face discrimination in the public system such as transgender people, commercial sex workers or men having sex with men.

MSF has been working in Chhattisgarh state since 2006. MSF provides direct, impartial medical assistance to the people affected by the conflict in the south of Chhattisgarh. Thousands of people in Chhattisgarh have restricted access to health care. MSF provides primary healthcare to the population living in camps in Chhattisgarh, in settlements around villages in the border area of Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, as well as in local communities in the Dantewada and Bijapur districts. In Bijapur town MSF also supports the District hospital.