For the past five years, Central African Republic (CAR) has suffered armed conflict between rebel groups and the government, making it extremely difficult for many people to access healthcare. In 2010 Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) supported hospitals and health centres in violence-affected areas in the north of the country, and responded to emergency health needs in the southwest and southeast.

MSF has been working in the referral hospital in the northwestern town of Paoua since 2006. Teams provide pediatric, surgical, maternal, emergency and outpatient care, and in 2010, more than 35,150 consultations were held and over 6,900 patients admitted to hospital. Staff conducted more than 7,400 prenatal consultations and assisted more than 1,500 births. Teams also cared for 320 HIV/AIDS patients, including those co-infected with tuberculosis (TB). Staff also worked in seven health centres in the surrounding area, conducting nearly 4,000 consultations every month. At the pediatric hospital in Bocaranga, MSF treated around 160 children and an average of 1,000 monthly consultations were held with children under five.

In Ouham prefecture, MSF staff work in rebel-controlled territory on the border with Chad. At MSF's 115-bed referral hospital in Boguila, teams provide surgery, maternity care, mental healthcare, HIV and TB treatment and outpatient services. A maternity waiting house is available for women at risk of complicated deliveries and in November, a four-week "surgical camp" provided surgery for 78 women with obstetric fistula (a debilitating injury to the birth canal). Staff also trained community members to provide basic healthcare, including malaria diagnosis and treatment for simple cases, at seven nearby health centres.

Whereas in 2009 MSF treated more than 1,000 patients for sleeping sickness, this year only 50 were diagnosed and treated in the program in Maitikoulou. More than 48,320 consultations were conducted and more than 2,370 people hospitalized throughout the year. Staff also provided medical care in four health centres in the area.

In nearby Markounda, MSF ran an outpatient department and a 26-bed inpatient department in a Ministry of Health hospital. In October MSF handed the projects over to Ministry of Health staff but continued to work in several health centres in the district.

At Kabo health centre, MSF staff provided emergency medical care, maternal and pediatric care, surgery and treatment for HIV/AIDS and TB. They also supported four neighbouring health centres, conducted almost 104,000 consultations and admitted more than 2,850 people to hospital. MSF also supplied basic survival kits to displaced families living in Kabo.

In the isolated area of Batangfo, MSF runs a referral hospital with more than 170 beds. It supports five health centres, holds a mobile clinic and provides maternal and pediatric care, surgery, and general and emergency healthcare. In 2010 nearly 48,000 people were treated for malaria, more than 1,000 surgeries were performed and staff assisted almost 1,300 births.

MSF started working in the hospital in Ndele, in the capital of Bamingui-Bangoran prefecture, in July 2010. It set up mobile clinics, held more than 28,700 consultations and admitted 300 patients to the hospital.

In the southwest of the country, MSF treated more than 2,800 children for malnutrition in emergency programs in Carnot, Mbaïki and Pissa. Children with malaria, diarrhea and respiratory infections were also treated. In Gadzi, MSF supplied and hired staff to support several health centres and ran a feeding program for children under 15.

In November 2009 MSF launched a program on the Ubangi River, on the border between CAR, the Republic of the Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to help people escaping the violence in DRC. MSF staff provided medical care to 15,000 refugees as well as the host population, carrying out 5,000 consultations each month on average. In February, 12,500 children aged between six months and five years were vaccinated against measles.

In May thousands of people flocked into the border town of Zémio, fleeing attacks from the rebel group the Lord's Resistance Army.  An MSF team opened an outpatient department and a health centre in the town, providing more than 14,750 consultations, a feeding program and a measles vaccination campaign in an effort to prevent an outbreak of the disease in the crowded refugee and displaced persons camps.

MSF has worked in Central African Republic since 1997.