This is Kam Domber's Controversies Page
Doctor's Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) has gone through many controversies in it's time. Most of these controversies have been with organizations in the countries that they go to or the governments of those countries. Their website link to their book says that: "The organization does not view controversy as negative, but rather as an engine for change..." (Le Pape, 2011) This statement explains their opinion that they are helping others in the best way that they can. A couple of their controversies will be covered in this article.
Burundi (2000-2002)
During November of 2000, Doctors Without Borders started a controversy by their actions in Burundi. Surveying that they had done had derived the results that there was a malaria epidimic going on in Burundi. They noticed that the mortality rate was much higher than normal. Doctors Without Borders said that this increased mortality rate was from changes in Burundi and a high resistance to chloroquine. This led to the implimentation of artemisinin derived drugs. This caused the contoversy because the government told them not to introduce new drugs. They did not like this police so they complained about it and encouraged us of the artemisinin derived drugs anyway. These were used with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine and artemether to treat malaria and prevent it's spread. Another fear arose from this though because some people thought that high resistances to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine might arise. This fear meant that there needed to be a resistance study to see how long that this drug could be used. Doctors Without Borders argued for their actions by citing studies and pointing out the time constraints and availability of medicines. There was a lot of arguing between Doctors Without Borders and the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO kept arguing with Doctors Without Borders claiming that their actions were wrong while Doctors Without Borders kept arguing that they did the right thing. This was the beginning though. In 2001, the Health Ministry withdrew artemisinin treatments from the Doctors Without Borders who had started using this method more commonly to treat malaria. This sparked a long debate on whether or not the recalling of this treatment was right. Doctors Without Borders eventually got the Burundian government to change how they handled disagreements with different sections of organizations.
HAITI (2010)
A smaller controversy with Doctors Without Borders was in Haiti after their earthquake. This controversy was over relief methods and conduct (Khan, 2010). Many Doctors Without Borders supplies and planes were turned away because the U.S. Military was giving priority to military planes. This brought up a couple debates on whether the U.S. Military should be the primary relief organization or if organizations like Doctors Without Borders should have more priority than the military. The Doctors Without Borders supplies were needed though and this controversy was very much publicized.
BiBliography
1)Le Pape and Defourny (2011). From chapter 4 of Medical Innovations in Humanitarian Situations. Retrieved 24 September 2011 from http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/publications/book/medicalinnovations/book.cfm?id=5240&cat=medical-innovations
2)Lacey (2003). From Herb Offers Hope to Africans Ravaged by Malaria. The New York Times. Retrieved 24 September 2011 from http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/16/world/herb-offers-hope-to-africans-ravaged-by-malaria.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
3)Khan (2010). From US military presence in Haiti sparks controversy. Retrieved 23 September 2011 from http://www.opendemocracy.net/opensecurity/security_briefings/200110
2)Lacey (2003). From Herb Offers Hope to Africans Ravaged by Malaria. The New York Times. Retrieved 24 September 2011 from http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/16/world/herb-offers-hope-to-africans-ravaged-by-malaria.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
3)Khan (2010). From US military presence in Haiti sparks controversy. Retrieved 23 September 2011 from http://www.opendemocracy.net/opensecurity/security_briefings/200110