War-stricken zones and poverty-stricken countries. Depictions of these seemingly other-worldly areas circulate daily through news media outlets. Everyone is aware of the guns firing, the homes being burnt down, and the shortage of resources. However, many people fail to realize that in the midst of all this chaos, daily life still has to go on.
Health problems within daily life definitely do not take a break. Cases that are usually minor, such as catching the cold, getting pregnancy ultrasounds, or fixing a toothache still linger around despite lack of media coverage. This is where Doctors Without Borders comes in.
Doctors Without Borders is an organization that provides medical attention “where the need is greatest, delivering emergency medical aid to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters or exclusion from health care”. Taking the idea of medical attention to another level, these physicians make sure all kinds of needs are met, from treating HIV patients to providing women with contraceptives. Located in over 70 countries with over 2000 workers in the field, this organization attempts to bring health care to the crevices of the world that are often overlooked.
John Spieker, an anesthesiologist who spent two months in Liberia, recalls the difficulty of maintaining a sterile environment for recovering patients. His challenges are not uncommon to participants in this program. They work in countries often overtaken by war, poverty, lawlessness, and famine. Sharon Jantzen, a physician in Vancouver, describes performing “surgeries inside a tent in the middle of nowhere, without oxygen, without monitors or high-tech equipment.”
Image Source: Omar Haj Kadour
So what motivates people to do this kind of work? What is the driving force behind leaving the comforts of home and working for months on end? Not to mention, this isn’t a vacation trip of any sort: it’s moving into often dangerous areas under less than luxurious circumstances. The organization’s official website even lists conditions such as violations of human rights, rape, and infectious diseases to be prepared for.
It is the philosophy that healthcare is a basic human right that underlies everything. Unfortunately, many people in the world are deprived of this right. But it is the compassion and motivation behind this belief that leads these doctors to save so many lives despite working in such dire conditions. Things such as clean water and access to food are often taken for granted in developed societies, and yet the lack of these essentials is the cause of serious diseases in third world countries.
Ultimately, Doctors Without Borders is a group of people who emphasize the human side of medicine. They are proving that doctors have to be more than just diagnosticians. They reveal how doctoring requires a human connection–the ability to understand what your patient is struggling with and how to help them in the best way possible. Doctors Without Borders functions under the universal language of medicine: regardless of the country or culture, a life saved speaks beyond words.
