history

Important dates

1980
Médecins du Monde is created following help given by about fifteen doctors from Médecins Sans Fontières to Vietnamese Boat People fleeing from their country and drowning in the China Sea.
1981 to 1985
Afghanistan, Salvador, Chad, Mali, Lebanon, Guatemala, Honduras, Mozambique...
1986
Creation of Mission France by Médecins du Monde and opening of the first free healthcare and guidance centre in Paris. Creation of the first free, voluntary, and anonymous HIV screening centre. Since then, 31 healthcare centres have been opened throughout France.
1986 to 1990
Brazil, Ethiopia, Armenia, Cambodia, Romania, Iran, Jordan.
1989
Creation of the first needle exchange programme in Paris.
1990 to 1995
Emergencies are on the increase: ex-Yugoslavia, Somalia, and more recently in Rwanda and Burundi.
1994 is a turning point. In France, Médecins du Monde develops a policy for risk reduction; needle exchange programmes increase and the first methadone centre is created. Results for the action in favour of those deprived of healthcare: 500,000 consultations in 8 years. Creation of the first National Day for Universal Access to Medical Care.
November 1995
In collaboration with Editions Somogy, a collection of testimonies and photographs entitled “Rwanda, le jour d’après” (Rwanda, the day after) is published so that what happened in Rwanda in the Spring of 1994 is not forgotten.
December 1995
Médecins du Monde publishes “Ten proposals to improve universal access to healthcare in France ".
December 1996
The international network of Médecins du Monde gains general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
1997
On January 18th, three Spanish volunteers are killed in Rwanda. Missions in Zaire/Congo, and Iran… In November and December, survey of Mission France centres: more and more young people are deprived of medical care.
1998
Missions outside health centres increase in France: methadone buse, rave mission, Gypsies etc. Médecins du Monde adopts a new motto: "We fight all diseases - even injustice”. Mission in Honduras, Nicaragua (Mitch), Guatemala and El Salvador.
1999
Important missions in Kosovo and in the Balkans. Emergency missions in Turkey, Timor and Chechnya.
2000
Emergency missions in Mozambique, Eritrea and the Moluccas
2001
Emergency missions in Afghanistan, in the Palestinian territories, in Chechnya and in Algeria
Toulouse: explosion of the AZF factory
2002
Emergency missions in Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mobilisation in defence of CMU/AME (universal medical cover/state medical aid)
2003
Emergencies in Iraq, Liberia, Iran and Haiti. Priority areas: children, Aids, migrants, globalization and health
2004
Emergencies in Haiti, Indonesia, Iran, Liberia, Sri-Lanka, Southern Sudan as well as Angola and China.
2005
Emergencies in Indonesia, Iran, Liberia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Southern Sudan
2006
Emergencies in Indonesia and Southern Sudan