Egypt
In Egypt in 2024, Médecins Sans Frontières started to support a specialised burns hospital, and run community-based mental health activities to assist both local people and refugees.
Our activities in 2024 —
mental health consultations provided in group sessions
outpatient consultations
Hundreds of thousands of people continue to arrive in Egypt, seeking refuge from the wars in Gaza and Sudan, and other conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa.
In the capital, Cairo, MSF started to support a specialist burns hospital run by a local organisation, Ahl Masr, in July. With a 50-bed capacity, it is the biggest private burns hospital in Egypt, and provides free medical care to patients from across the country, as well as those from the Middle East and North Africa. Our teams offer technical support and training in nursing, mental health, and physiotherapy.
Also in Cairo, our teams started carrying out community-based mental health activities, focusing on strengthening emotional support within communities through training and support groups. The initiative began in March, with psychological first-aid training for personnel from government institutions and NGOs. In May, this was expanded to include leaders from various community-based organisations, equipping them with the necessary skills to provide immediate emotional support.
In the same month, we set up psychoeducational groups for adult women, expectant mothers, and adolescents.
Each group followed a structured four-session programme covering emotional recognition, stress management, self-care, and community support.
In early 2024, we closed the clinic we had been running in the Maadi neighbourhood of Cairo. In Aswan governorate, in southern Egypt, we offered mental health support and basic health services for Sudanese refugees and the local community through mobile clinics in several villages and areas.