Why Médecins-Sans-Frontières? (MSF)            

MSF is the world's biggest and specifically medical aid agency, unlike the Red Cross whose missions are more general.

MSF was founded in 1971 by a Frenchman by the name of Bernard Kouchner. They now have 25 000 National staff and 3000 full time expatriate staff.

Within a few weeks of my time at the Liverpool Tropical School it very quickly became obvious that MSF set the 'NGO Gold standard' in terms of delivering healthcare in resource-poor settings. I believe they are the best at what they do.

What I can achieve as a doctor without drugs, medical supplies, equipment and human resources is minimal.

But with these resources I hope to touch the lives of tens of thousands of the world's most neglected people.

MSF provide an infrastructure and resources that enable doctors to function effectively. In Britain the ratio of doctors to patients is about 1:250 in a University town such as Liverpool. But where I am going there will be one doctor for 200,000 people. Next time you are irritated by having to wait for two days to see the GP-remember those statistics!