Editing Médecins Sans Frontières (section)

===Statistics===
In order to accurately report the conditions of a humanitarian emergency to the rest of the world and to governing bodies, data on a number of factors are collected during each field mission. The rate of malnutrition in children is used to determine the malnutrition rate in the population, and then to determine the need for feeding centres.<ref>MSF Article (2002) [http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=09972681-0B23-4AF6-B488A0B4A177C6CF&method=full_html Malnutrition: rates and measures] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930020239/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=09972681-0B23-4AF6-B488A0B4A177C6CF&method=full_html |date=30 September 2007 }} MSF. Retrieved 28 December 2005.</ref> Various types of [[mortality rate]]s are used to report the seriousness of a humanitarian emergency, and a common method used to measure mortality in a population is to have staff constantly monitoring the number of burials at cemeteries.<ref>MSF Article (2002) [http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=C4B3E381-F16B-499D-99550AD3814DE45D&method=full_html Mortality: rates and measures] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927222402/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=C4B3E381-F16B-499D-99550AD3814DE45D&method=full_html |date=27 September 2007 }} MSF. Retrieved 28 December 2005.</ref> By compiling data on the frequency of diseases in hospitals, MSF can track the occurrence and location of epidemic increases (or "seasons") and stockpile vaccines and other drugs. For example, the "Meningitis Belt" (sub-Saharan Africa, which sees the most cases of meningitis in the world) has been "mapped" and the meningitis season occurs between December and June. Shifts in the location of the Belt and the timing of the season can be predicted using cumulative data over many years.<ref>WHO Fact Sheet [https://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs141/en/ Meningococcal meningitis] '''WHO'''. Retrieved 28 December 2005.</ref>

In addition to epidemiological surveys, MSF also uses population [[Statistical survey|surveys]] to determine the rates of violence in various regions. By estimating the scopes of [[wikt:massacre|massacres]], and determining the rate of kidnappings, rapes, and killings, psychosocial programmes can be implemented to lower the [[Epidemiology and Methodology of Suicide|suicide rate]] and increase the sense of security in a population.<ref>MSF Article [http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=F8F896F8-C409-4E0E-A6ECE6F5C2034F9B&method=full_html Mental health care crucial in emergency situations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930024309/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=F8F896F8-C409-4E0E-A6ECE6F5C2034F9B&method=full_html |date=30 September 2007 }} MSF. Retrieved 28 December 2005.</ref> [[Population transfer|Large-scale forced migrations]], excessive civilian casualties and massacres can be quantified using surveys, and MSF can use the results to put pressure on governments to provide help, or even expose genocide.<ref>MSF Article [http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=0F722DE2-BF6A-11D4-852200902789187E&method=full_html A scientific approach to "témoignage"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930015904/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=0F722DE2-BF6A-11D4-852200902789187E&method=full_html |date=30 September 2007 }} MSF. Retrieved 28 December 2005.</ref> MSF conducted the first comprehensive mortality survey in [[Darfur]] in 2004.<ref>{{cite book |last=Prunier |first=Gérard |title=Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=2005 |page=149 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kVPkluKRKtwC&q=M%C3%A9decins+Sans+Fronti%C3%A8res&pg=PA149 |isbn=978-0-8014-4450-0}}</ref>
However, there may be ethical problems in collecting these statistics.<ref>{{cite journal |title=PLoS Medicine: Ethics Without Borders |journal=PLOS Medicine |volume=6 |issue=7 |pages=e1000119 |publisher=plosmedicine.org |last=Editorial |doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.1000119 |pmid=19636357 |pmc=2708348 |year=2009 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://globalbioethics.blogspot.com/2009/07/ethics-research-and-medecins-sans.html |title=Global bioethics blog: Ethics, research and Medecins Sans Frontieres |publisher=globalbioethics.blogspot.com |access-date=11 August 2009 |last=Rennie |first=Stuart}}</ref>