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Once again, patients and healthcare staff are under attack.

Medical Aid Where It's Needed Most

Once again, patients and healthcare staff are under attack.

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Since the escalation in Ukraine in February 2022, hundreds of thousands of soldiers are estimated to have been killed, plus more than 11,000 civilians — including 591 children—and more than 27,000 wounded. A total of 1,640 medical facilities, needed more than ever, have been damaged or destroyed.

The war in Gaza is relentless. Over 40,000 civilians have been killed. Around 1.9 million people have been forcibly displaced and living in dire conditions with limited humanitarian assistance for months.

- Jean Stowell, MSF head of mission in Sudan.

Early on the morning of 3 May, the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Old Fangak, South Sudan was targeted in a bombing attack.

Our teams reported that two helicopter gunships dropped a bomb on the MSF pharmacy around 4:30am, burning it to the ground, before then firing on the town of Old Fangak for around 30 minutes, followed by a drone bombing of the nearby market. At least seven people were killed in the attacks, and 20 more were injured, including a patient, two caregivers, and one of our staff members.

South Sudan

Impact on patients and staff

Our teams are still assessing the full extent of the damage, but is it clear that this attack has cut off even greater numbers of people from life-saving treatment. This hospital is the only hospital in Fangak county, serving a population of more than 110,000 people—people who already had extremely limited access to healthcare. With the complete destruction of our pharmacy we have lost all our medical and outreach activity supplies, severely compromising our ability to provide care in the region.

This is the second time in a month that an MSF hospital in South Sudan has been targeted, following the armed looting of our hospital in Ulang in mid-April.

“We call on all parties to the conflict to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure – this includes health workers, patients and health facilities. Hospitals must never be targeted and the lives of civilians must be protected.”

“We call on all parties to the conflict to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure – this includes health workers, patients and health facilities. Hospitals must never be targeted and the lives of civilians must be protected.”


- Mamman Mustapha, MSF head of mission in South Sudan


- Mamman Mustapha, MSF head of mission in South Sudan

Since the escalation in Ukraine in February 2022, hundreds of thousands of soldiers are estimated to have been killed, plus more than 11,000 civilians — including 591 children—and more than 27,000 wounded. A total of 1,640 medical facilities, needed more than ever, have been damaged or destroyed.

Dr. Khaled Al-Shawwa is performing a minor surgery

The pharmacy of MSF’s hospital in Old Fangak, which burned to the ground following a bombing attack on 3 May.

© MSF

Our red line

This attack took place despite MSF’s sharing of the geolocation data of all MSF structures, including Old Fangak hospital, with all parties to the conflict. Under international humanitarian law, these structures—and the healthcare workers and patients within them—should have been protected.

Attacks on healthcare facilities, patients and staff have become devastatingly frequent. In 2024 alone, the World Health Organization recorded 1,625 attacks on healthcare, resulting in 937 deaths. This is unacceptable. Attacks on civilian targets must never be normalised in war.

doctors without borders.

not without you.

We need your help

Your support is what empowers us to provide care in situations like that in South Sudan—conflict zones in regions with limited access to services, where adequate healthcare is desperately needed. It takes funding, critical supply access, and extensive staff training to be able to provide the care needed in volatile situations, and we need your help to make this happen.


Please consider making a donation today to help fund this urgent work around the world.

MSF’s hospital in Old Fangak following a deliberate bombing attack.

© MSF 

"The act of humanitarianism comes down to one thing: individual human beings reaching out to those others who find themselves in the most difficult circumstances. And they reach out one bandage at a time, one suture at a time, one vaccination at a time. Humanitarian responsibility has no frontiers"

"The act of humanitarianism comes down to one thing: individual human beings reaching out to those others who find themselves in the most difficult circumstances. And they reach out one bandage at a time, one suture at a time, one vaccination at a time. Humanitarian responsibility has no frontiers"

Dr James Orbinski, Nobel Peace Prize speech

OUR ACHIEVEMENTS

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

In 1999, we were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The judges chose MSF “in recognition of the organisation’s pioneering humanitarian work on several continents” and to honour our medical staff, who have worked in more than 80 countries and treated tens of millions of people.

The proceeds from the prize were used to set up a Neglected Disease Fund, designed to support pilot projects for the clinical development, production, procurement and distribution of treatments for neglected diseases, such as Chagas, sleeping sickness and malaria.

supported by individuals like you

Thanks to the generous support of people like you, our teams on the ground can provide urgent medical care to hundreds of thousands of people every day.

Help us provide urgent medical care for people all over the world and ensure no one is left behind during emergencies and crises.

Make a difference

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HOW IS YOUR DONATION SPENT?

Your donation to MSF helps to provide medical aid to people affected by crisis, disasters and war in places like Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Papua New Guinea, Yemen and beyond.

Every dollar we receive comes from individuals like you. It’s only with this support that we can reach and care for people living in extreme circumstances – no matter who they are, no matter where they are.

We have an immense respect for our supporters and the use of Médecins Sans Frontières funds are tightly controlled and the audited financial reports are publicly available.

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