Doctors Without Borders

Doctors Without Borders, international humanitarian group dedicated to providing medical care to people in distress, including victims of political violence and natural disasters. The populations the group assists typically lack access to or adequate resources for medical treatment. The group was awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize for Peace.

Doctors Without Borders was founded in 1971 by 13 physicians and journalists who were dissatisfied with the neutrality of the Red Cross. The founding members believed that people in distress had the right to medical intervention and that the need to provide assistance to those people transcended national borders. They also felt that they had a duty to speak out about injustice, even though it might offend host governments.

In 1972 Doctors Without Borders conducted its first major relief effort, helping victims of an earthquake in Nicaragua. Other significant missions followed, including the provision of care for victims of fighting in Lebanon (1976), Afghanistan (1980), and the Russian republic of Chechnya (1995). Doctors Without Borders has continued to work to relieve famine, to offer medical care to casualties of war, and to assist refugees in many countries throughout the world. In 2003 Doctors Without Borders was a founding partner in the organization Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), which works to create medicines for diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS. The group has played an important role in caring for the victims of disease outbreaks.

Doctors Without Borders works in almost 80 countries, and the organization has offices in multiple countries. In addition to providing medical assistance, Doctors Without Borders has a reputation as a highly politicized group, particularly skillful in achieving publicity for its efforts. Its vocal opposition to perceived injustice has led to its expulsion from several countries.