Hope in Hell:Inside the World of Doctors Without Borders BOOK BY: DAN BORTOLOTTI

PRESENTED BY: EMILY STROGEN

Medecins Sans Frontieres Background:

Medecins Sans Frontieres means “Doctors without Borders” Together doctors, nurses, water and sanitation specialists,

epidemiologists, and administration work to cure others Formed in 1971 by two groups that merged together First response was to the Nicaraguan capital after an earthquake

destroyed most of the city and killed between 10,000 and 30,000 people

This new brand of humanitarianism would reinvent the concept of emergency aid

World’s largest independent medical humanitarian organization

What do they do?

Outpatient consults Vaccination Surgery Water Sanitation Epidemic treatment Ready-to-use food HIV/AIDS treatment

Where do they work?

MSF Activity in 2008 In 2008, MSF sent more than 3,00 volunteers to 80 different countries

MSF Principles

MSF’s actions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of independence and impartiality

Treat their patients with dignity, and with respect for their cultural and religious beliefs

Endeavors to provide high-quality medical care for all patients Strive to ensure that we have the power to freely evaluate medical

needs, to access populations without restriction, and to directly control the aid we provide

Decisions are not based on political, economic, or religious interests

MSF Reputation

From the beginning, MSF’s reputation exceeded its actual impact in countries where it worked

Gained a reputation for going where other aid agencies would not go Became known as the ”Cowboys of Emergency Aid” Received the Noble Peace Prize in 1999

…What is MSF really about?

Run several hundreds projects a year and most are not on the front lines of conflict

Medical teams may simply train locals rather than treat patients Doctors do very little hands-on work Three-quarters are not even doctors

Are they truly Neutral?

From the Charter: “Medecins Sans Frontieres observes neutrality and impartiality in the name of

universal medical ethics and the right to humanitarian assistance and claims full unhindered freedom in the exercise of its functions.”

Divided from the beginning Tensions between Kouchner and younger generation of doctors MSF Speaks Out:

1985- Ethiopia 1995- Serbia 2004- Darfur

Critics

Only short-term positive effects were produced Humanitarian organizations as political smoke screens Drama of conflict distracts us from equally important issues in the

world’s toughest countries Impossible to anticipate the consequences of providing aid

Hope in Hell: Book Summary

Examines the lives of individual MSF volunteer medical professionals

Relates the history and experiences The book serves as a reminder of the larger goal of

humanitarianism, sometimes overlooked in an era that demands quantification of results, reminding us that humanitarianism is a compassionate response to suffering and doesn’t need to be justified by science