Médecins du Monde

© Olivier Papegnies

Who are we? Who are we? Who are we? Who are we? Who are we? Who are we? Who are we? Who are we? Who are we? Who are we?

Médecins du Monde,
also treating injustice

Founded in 1980, Médecins du Monde is a medical organisation that fights tirelessly to defend a fair and universal health system. In the face of inertia and indifference, in a world where physical, psychological, political and institutional violence reigns, Médecins du Monde cares and challenges, without limits, ideology or censorship.

 

We fight through actions and rights, through our advocacy and field work, through 59 projects in France, and internationally in some thirty countries.

 

For Médecins du Monde, defending health does not only mean providing care, it also means listening, supporting, protecting, collaborating, defending, training and advocating. It is about getting to the root of a problem and removing the symptoms.

 

We are committed to caring for the most vulnerable populations, bearing witness to abuses in access to healthcare, denouncing infringements of dignity and human rights, and obtaining sustainable improvements in health policies for all. Our approach is local, collective and sustainable. We do not claim to be able to act alone, but with the help of other organisations and the people whom our programmes target.

 

Because without health there is no future, we at Médecins du Monde will not let anything or anyone stand in the way.

Our story Our story Our story Our story Our story Our story Our story Our story Our story Our story

40 YEARS OF HISTORY

Since its creation at the start of the 1980s, a group of doctors, journalists and photographers launched “Un bateau pour le Vietnam”, an operation to help people fleeing the communist regime.

Without knowing it, they were laying the foundations of a struggle that, decades later, is still ours: to care and to bear witness.

1979

The isle of light, the beginnings of Médecins du Monde

In 1978, somewhere in the China Sea, a boat drifted. On board were 2,564 Vietnamese refugees that no country was prepared to welcome. Desperate, they hoisted a banner: “We are threatened with famine and epidemics. United Nations, save us!”

the beginnings

1980

December 1979. Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan

December 1979. Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan. The country, already weakened by successive famines, was now confronted with war. The health situation quickly became critical.

Afghanistan

1981

A plane to El Salvador

Summer 1980. In En Salvador, the situation was becoming increasingly serious. The stalked the country. The guerrillas did the same. Farmers fled the massacres. In order to help these internal refugees, Médecins du Monde organised a “plane for El Salvador”, full of supplies, medicines and clothes, and set up a refugee camp: Bethania.

Salvador

1984

a threatening deforestation

In the 1980s, the fragile equilibrium of the indigenous groups living in the Amazonian rainforest was disrupted by the onslaught of rampant deforestation, the introduction of colonies, and gold diggers. Contact was violent, women were kidnapped and raped, and sexually transmitted diseases were rampant.

Yanomami people

1986

In apartheid

In apartheid South Africa, there may have been high-quality medical care, but not everywhere and not for all.

South Africa

1988

A smile for Cambodia

In 1988, nearly ten years after the fall of Pol Pot and his murderous regime, Cambodia finally opened up to international aid. Médecins du Monde began to contribute to the reconstruction of the country at the Calmette hospital, formerly the French hospital in Phnom Penh.

Opération Sourire

1979

The isle of light, the beginnings of Médecins du Monde

In 1978, somewhere in the China Sea, a boat drifted. On board were 2,564 Vietnamese refugees that no country was prepared to welcome. Desperate, they hoisted a banner: “We are threatened with famine and epidemics. United Nations, save us!”

1980

December 1979. Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan

December 1979. Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan. The country, already weakened by successive famines, was now confronted with war. The health situation quickly became critical.

1981

A plane to El Salvador

Summer 1980. In En Salvador, the situation was becoming increasingly serious. The stalked the country. The guerrillas did the same. Farmers fled the massacres. In order to help these internal refugees, Médecins du Monde organised a “plane for El Salvador”, full of supplies, medicines and clothes, and set up a refugee camp: Bethania.

1984

a threatening deforestation

In the 1980s, the fragile equilibrium of the indigenous groups living in the Amazonian rainforest was disrupted by the onslaught of rampant deforestation, the introduction of colonies, and gold diggers. Contact was violent, women were kidnapped and raped, and sexually transmitted diseases were rampant.

1986

In apartheid

In apartheid South Africa, there may have been high-quality medical care, but not everywhere and not for all.

1988

A smile for Cambodia

In 1988, nearly ten years after the fall of Pol Pot and his murderous regime, Cambodia finally opened up to international aid. Médecins du Monde began to contribute to the reconstruction of the country at the Calmette hospital, formerly the French hospital in Phnom Penh.

Blue Bird

DISCOVER 40 YEARS OF EXISTENCE

Discover
our causes our causes our causes our causes our causes our causes our causes our causes our causes our causes

OUR HUMANITARIAN EXPERTISE
IN 6 CAUSES

OUR VALUES OUR VALUES OUR VALUES OUR VALUES OUR VALUES OUR VALUES OUR VALUES OUR VALUES OUR VALUES OUR VALUES

MILITANCY, INDEPENDENCE, TRANSPARENCY

WE GO BEYOND CARE

to guarantee the dignity of each individual.

WE ARE GUIDED BY OUR HUMANITY

without judgement. Our only ideology is that we have no ideology.

OUR APPROACH IS LOCAL, COLLECTIVE AND SUSTAINABLE

We do not claim to be able to act alone.

WE GO BEYOND CARE

to guarantee the dignity of each individual.

WE ARE GUIDED BY OUR HUMANITY

without judgement. Our only ideology is that we have no ideology.

OUR APPROACH IS LOCAL, COLLECTIVE AND SUSTAINABLE

We do not claim to be able to act alone.

Our intervention areas Our intervention areas Our intervention areas Our intervention areas Our intervention areas Our intervention areas Our intervention areas Our intervention areas Our intervention areas Our intervention areas

Médecins du Monde
on the ground

drag