Editing Médecins Sans Frontières (section)

===Medical component===
[[File:Preparing to enter Ebola treatment unit (2).jpg|thumb|Doctors from MSF and the American [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention|CDC]] put on protective gear before entering an [[Ebola]] treatment ward in [[Liberia]], August 2014.]]

Vaccination campaigns are a major part of the medical care provided during MSF missions. Diseases such as [[diphtheria]], [[measles]], [[meningitis]], [[tetanus]], [[pertussis]], [[yellow fever]], [[polio]], and [[cholera]], all of which are uncommon in developed countries, may be prevented with [[vaccination]]. Some of these diseases, such as cholera and measles, spread rapidly in large populations living in close proximity, such as in a refugee camp, and people must be immunised by the hundreds or thousands in a short period of time.<ref>MSF Article (2003) [http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=2371723C-A340-45A4-919DDF2685CD9289&method=full_html The Vaccine Gap: NY Times editorial] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930015853/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=2371723C-A340-45A4-919DDF2685CD9289&method=full_html |date=30 September 2007 }} MSF. Retrieved 28 December 2005.</ref> For example, in [[Beira, Mozambique]], in 2004, an experimental cholera vaccine was received twice by approximately 50,000 residents in about one month.<ref>MSF Press Release (2003) [http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=pressrelease&objectid=811C6E24-4A26-4B4D-A6F26C20B7DC9109&method=full_html MSF launches the first large-scale test of an oral vaccine against cholera in the city of Beira, Mozambique] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927222633/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=pressrelease&objectid=811C6E24-4A26-4B4D-A6F26C20B7DC9109&method=full_html |date=27 September 2007 }} MSF. Retrieved 28 December 2005.</ref>

An equally important part of the medical care provided during MSF missions is AIDS treatment (with [[antiretroviral drug]]s), AIDS testing, and education. MSF is the only source of treatment for many countries in Africa, whose citizens make up the majority of people with HIV and AIDS worldwide.<ref name="whoaids"/> Because antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) are not readily available, MSF usually provides treatment for [[opportunistic infection]]s and educates the public on how to slow transmission of the disease.<ref>MSF Article (2004) [http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=6746E5F4-0A5B-4C1E-B9EFCB10C8509248&method=full_html World AIDS Day MSF country profiles] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930020129/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=6746E5F4-0A5B-4C1E-B9EFCB10C8509248&method=full_html |date=30 September 2007 }} MSF. Retrieved 28 December 2005.</ref>

In most countries, MSF increases the capabilities of local hospitals by improving sanitation, providing equipment and drugs, and training local hospital staff.<ref>MSF Article (2004) [http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=81035929-6C6F-4613-A625E717128BF4A4&method=full_html Once ill equipped and poorly manned – transforming a hospital in North Darfur] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930015439/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=81035929-6C6F-4613-A625E717128BF4A4&method=full_html |date=30 September 2007 }} MSF. Retrieved 28 December 2005.</ref> When the local staff is overwhelmed, MSF may open new specialised clinics for treatment of an endemic disease or surgery for victims of war. International staff start these clinics but MSF strives to increase the local staff's ability to run the clinics themselves through training and supervision.<ref>MSF Article (2001) [http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=263F9FF3-0D73-4839-AAC0BA481CE01BFB&method=full_html Tajikistan: Aid to health system in shambles] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930020308/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=263F9FF3-0D73-4839-AAC0BA481CE01BFB&method=full_html |date=30 September 2007 }} MSF. Retrieved 28 December 2005.</ref> In some countries, like Nicaragua, MSF provides public education to increase awareness of reproductive health care and [[venereal disease]].<ref>MSF Article (2004) [http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=B02192D7-B5D3-4982-BA6A545C27519B54&method=full_html Nicaragua: Focusing care on women's health and Chagas disease] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927222224/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=B02192D7-B5D3-4982-BA6A545C27519B54&method=full_html |date=27 September 2007 }} MSF. Retrieved 28 December 2005.</ref>

Since most of the areas that require field missions have been affected by a natural disaster, civil war, or endemic disease, the residents usually require psychological support as well. Although the presence of an MSF medical team may decrease stress somewhat among survivors, often a team of [[psychologists]] or [[psychiatrists]] help people who have depression, survivors of [[domestic violence]] and those with [[substance use disorder]]. The doctors may also train local mental health staff.<ref>MSF Article (2002) [http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=67AC8E1E-3EF1-4B0C-A7D473B4C8B1B2B2&method=full_html MSF mental health activities: a brief overview] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927222333/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=67AC8E1E-3EF1-4B0C-A7D473B4C8B1B2B2&method=full_html |date=27 September 2007 }} MSF. Retrieved 28 December 2005.</ref> Such cases include [[Palestinian refugee camps]], where long-term displacement and geopolitical circumstances have left many residents without long-term purpose or clear strategies for action. Humanitarian actors, like Médecins Sans Frontières, have sometimes responded by proferring coping skills to residents as a humanitarian aim and outcome. In the late 2000s, Médecins Sans Frontières launched a mental health program in [[Bourj el-Barajneh|Burj al Barajneh]] camp in Lebanon, providing sexual and reproductive health services, mental health support, and health promotion activities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lebanon {{!}} MSF |url=https://www.msf.org/international-activity-report-2017/lebanon |access-date=2023-03-08 |website=Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Feldman |first=Ilana |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1043049820 |title=Life lived in relief : humanitarian predicaments and Palestinian refugee politics |date=2018 |isbn=978-0-520-97128-8 |location=Oakland, California |publisher=University of California Press |oclc=1043049820}}</ref>