There are plenty of medical charities to support in one’s locality and around the world. But why should one donate to Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres)? This global charity group seeks to deliver emergency medical aid to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, as well as exclusion from health care. MSF was formed in 1971 when amid the Paris upheavals of May 1968, a group of young doctors in France decided to try and help victims of wars and major disasters.
When Doctors Without Borders started, it had 300 volunteers made up of doctors, nurses, and other staff, including its 13 founding doctors and journalists. Its first mission was to the Nicaraguan capital, Managua, where an earthquake in 1972 had destroyed most of the city and killed anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 people.
Image source: Doctors Without Borders
The mission was to be highly organized and serve “not just [as] doctors pitching up with few drugs in a plastic bag and not enough to work with.” The organization claims that 89 cents of every dollar supports the program, with the goal of operating efficiently and minimizing fundraising and administrative costs.
When one donates money to Doctors Without Borders, it allows the aid workers to save lives around the world through different basic necessities. Thirty-five dollars can provide two high-energy meals a day to 200 children, while $50 can provide vaccinations for 50 people against measles, meningitis, polio, or other deadly epidemics.
Image source: Doctors Without Borders
Two hundred fifty dollars can provide a sterilization kit for syringes and needles in mobile vaccination campaigns, while $1000 can already offer emergency medical supplies to help 5,000 disaster victims for an entire month.
Tup Ingram, M.D., is a reconstructive and plastic surgeon based in Nashville, Tennessee. He had worked with various nonprofit organizations such as Operation Smile, Habitat for Humanity, and Doctors Without Borders. For similar articles, click here.
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