Central African Republic

In the shadow of conflict, the Central African Republic is grappling with a decades-long health crisis. Here, in a country of 5.5 million people, access to healthcare is all but impossible and life expectancy is little more than 54 years. For years, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) repeated calls for more action from governments and humanitarian actors. Yet, the situation worsens, and our teams and the communities we serve are left wondering: Where is everyone?

This vaccination campaign against measles and other diseases is part of the emergency response launched by the medical organization in the town of Birao, in northern Central African Republic, where refugees from Sudan have been relocated.

In recent weeks, thousands of people fleeing the conflict in Sudan have sought refuge in northern Central African Republic (CAR). Issa Moussa, deputy head of mission for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), is coordinating MSF’s emergency response in Birao. Here, Moussa explains how MSF is adapting to provide medical support to Sudanese refugees in CAR.

Archange was born at just 28 weeks and weighed 800 grams at birth. The baby was in a critical condition but fought for his life for 45 days in the neonatology intensive care unit supported by MSF in Bangui’s community university hospital, in the Central African Republic (CAR). The medical team were so impressed by his fight to survive that they nicknamed him "Little General”.

Sexual violence has become a public health issue in Central African Republic (CAR) over the past decade, with women and minors being the most affected groups.

People in Bouar, in western CAR, have been living in fear since an uptick in violence, forcing many to become displaced to areas that lack sanitation and access to health…

The security and humanitarian situation is deteriorating rapidly in Central African Republic, according to reports by MSF teams.

MSF teams are providing medical care to people caught up in post-election violence across Central African Republic, including in Bangassou, the site of the latest attack by armed groups.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) denounces the killing of one of our medical staff members following a shooting incident on a public transport truck in Grimari city in Ouaka prefecture, Central African Republic (CAR).

The security situation has significantly worsened since the writing of this piece. Fighting and armed violence have erupted in different regions of the country in the days leading up to the national elections due on 27 December.

Some 38 million people in the world are living with HIV/AIDS, over two-thirds of them in sub-Saharan Africa.

In the Central African Republic (CAR), malaria is the leading cause of death among children under five years of age. With the rainy season, cases are increasing and complications from the disease, including anemia and dehydration, are on the rise.

When the first cases of COVID-19 pandemic were confirmed in the Central African Republic in March, the country was already in the throes of a major humanitarian and health emergency: a measles epidemic.

International and domestic funds available to fight HIV and TB declined in 2018: MSF warns about the current funding decline and its impact on patients.

If you look at the desperate situation in this country since the outbreak of civil war in 2013, time in the Central African Republic (CAR) seems to stand still. But the people of this country are constantly moving.

In CAR, talking about sexual violence is taboo. MSF's project is trying to remedy this situation by providing medical and psychological assistance to survivors of sexual violence.

On Tuesday 21 May, in Ndjondjom, Koundjili and Bohong villages, some 50 kilometres away from Paoua, in northwestern Central African Republic, gunmen attacked and shot a number of civilians they had brought together with the excuse of organising a community meeting.

After more than two years without humanitarian access, MSF has finished a two-day vaccination programme in the town. The area is difficult to access due to insecurity, in addition to bad road conditions.

MSF strongly condemns the killing last Thursday of their colleague Gaulbert Mokafe, assistant nurse at the Batangafo hospital, at the hands of an armed group.

In a report released on 18th February, MSF has published the results of our investigation into the attacks against civilians that took place in November 2018 in the town of Batangafo, northern CAR, where we have run a hospital for the past 12 years.