Doctors Without Borders is an international medical humanitarian organization that aims to providing care to populations which are in danger, natural or artificial disasters’ and armed conflicts’ victims, independently of race, religion or political beliefs.

They were founded in 1970 in France and today they are operating almost 400 programs in more than 65 countries. They are one of the biggest humanitarian organizations in the world that provide not only medical care but, thanks to their independent and objective presence, they criticize the Principals and they use advocacy as a way of bringing the change in the lives of their supporting populations.

The Greek Department of the Doctors Without Borders was founded in 1990 and is one of the 19 departments of the organisation’s international movement. Volunteers of the Greek Department have traveled to Syria, Haiti, Palestine, Rouanda, Indonesia, Sudan, People’s Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and many other countries providing medical help and relief to the people needing it. Examples of their actions are relevant to the earthquakes of Aigio and Attiki, the fires in Ilia, the medical multi-centres in Athens and Thessaloniki, the program for the prevention and fighting of malaria in Lakonia as well as their most recent intervention in the refugees’ hosting centers, and the program for the uninsured, unemployed, homeless and other vulnerable groups on the centre of Athens.

For more information, visit the website: www.msf.com

HelMSIC and Doctors Without Borders

HelMSIC’s collaboration with Doctors Without Borders began with the active support on behalf of HelMSIC, for a large number of Doctors Without Borders’ actions, like the Cities Without Borders that took place in 2013 in Ioannina and in Heraklion. In 2014, supporting the Doctors Without Borders’ Manifesto against the Resistance Tuberculosis, HelMSIC and Doctors Without Borders organized together the TuBerculosis (TB) Project, aiming to inform the medical students about tuberculosis and the promotion of the campaign of Manifesto in Greece and Europe. They achieved to collect more than 800 signatures in Greece for their deposition in the International Health Conference in Geneva.

The collaboration continues with participation in many actions every year by both of the organisations and the presence of Doctors Without Borders in HelMSIC’s National Meetings, aiming to the more direct communication between them.

KETHEA is the largest network of drug rehabilitation and social reintegration services in our country. It’s there for drug users and their families since the founding of ΙΘΑΚΗ, the first Hellenic Therapeutic Community, in 1983. All services are provided free of charge and without waiting lists: on the street, in prisons, in units all over Greece. KETHEA also addresses those who have a problem with other forms of addiction, such as alcohol, gambling, and the internet.

KETHEA’s programs comes up against dependence and the its problems, providing counseling and treatment for drug addiction, family support, health care and legal issues, education and training, reintegration into society and the world of work spherically. No substitutes or medications are given during treatment. The aim is to fully and steadily abstain from substances and to ensure equal reintegration of the individual into society.

KETHEA also deals with health prevention and education programs in educational communities of all levels, high risk groups for substance use and local communities. It is an active education and research organization in the field of addictions with programs and activities designed to improve the understanding of the phenomenon, to promote scientific knowledge and to constantly improve the services provided to dependent individuals and their families.

For more information, visit: www.kethea.gr

HelMSIC and ΚΕTHΕΑ

HelMSIC collaboration with KETHEA began in 2011 through the SCORP program Learning Strategies About Drugs (LSD). Through this program, medical students are trained and familiarised with KETHEA’s special units on the issue of substance dependence and its social dimension as future health professionals as well as people.

Medecins du Monde-Greece was established in 1990 and is an independent Greek organization that follows its own path based on the particularities of Greece, maintaining its economic and administrative independence. At the same time, however, it remains part of the international network of MDM, which consists of 15 delegations (Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States of America).

The guiding principle of the organization is that every human being has the right to humanitarian aid, regardless of gender, religion, ideology or political belief. As a result, Medecins du Monde act in accordance with the principles of neutrality and impartiality. But the fact that they keep their neutrality does not prevent them from talking openly about human rights abuses when they, themselves, are witnesses in the field. They fight against all injustice. Firm defenders of human rights, they oppose racism, xenophobia, social exclusion and the marginalization of vulnerable social groups.

More than 600 volunteers have worked in over 50 countries on the planet offering medical, humanitarian aid. During all these years, missions of medical and humanitarian aid have taken place in Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Serbia, Sudan, Palestine, Algeria, Tanzania, Uganda…

The long-term goal of Medecins du Monde is to make health a fundamental human right.

For more information, visit www.mdmgreece.gr

HelMSIC and Medecins du Monde

HelMSIC’s collaboration with Medecins du Monde began in 2011 through the SCORP program, Chiron. In this program, medical students in Athens, Thessaloniki and Patras have the opportunity to get acquainted and trained in the environment of polyclinics of Medecins du Monde. Since 2011, HelMSIC also supports other Medecins du Monde actions like “A Little Milk for A Lot of Children” and other events.