2024-08-03 22:01:41
“To heal and bear witness.” This is the motto that stood at the birth of one of the largest humanitarian and health organizations in the world. Doctors Without Borders, who have been going on missions for more than half a century, still adhere to it today. Now they have decided to document the stories of patients who have met a cruel fate in a six-part series.
“To heal and bear witness.” The motto that stood at the birth of one of the largest humanitarian organizations in the world, Médecins Sans Frontières adheres to today. | Video: Doctors Without Borders
Bernard, from the Central African Republic, was just eight months old when he contracted measles. The viral infection, which is characterized by a characteristic rash, is life-threatening for the unvaccinated. When the boy’s father and mother took the boy to the hospital, they discovered that they could not pay for medical care. By the time the little boy got into the hands of Doctors Without Borders, it was too late. The tragedy that befell Bernard could have been prevented by vaccination. Like most families in the area, his didn’t have the money for vaccinations.
A team of doctors found a Nigerian boy, Dahida, when he was sixteen years old. His face was extensively injured as a result of Noma’s disease. An overlooked and little-known disease that literally eats away tissues and leaves deep scars, affects around 140,000 children every year. Up to ninety percent of them die within two weeks of being infected. Dahidu survived and found a new approach to life after recovering. He began helping other patients affected by the Noma disease as a paramedic.
Doctors without borders see similar stories every day. So that they do not fall into oblivion, the organization decided to prepare a documentary mini-series called The Story of the Sick. Its goal is to point out not only the diseases that people in developed countries forget about, but also the ever-increasing problem of poverty.