Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), known in English as Doctors Without Borders, is a private nonprofit international association whose mission is to provide lifesaving medical care to those most in need. MSF volunteers frequently work in conflict zones, after natural disasters, during epidemics, and in long-term care settings. The organization emphasizes independence and impartiality.
Dr. Africa Stewart is an American obstetrician/gynecologist who has been on seven volunteer missions with MSF and is a board member of the organization. She has worked in South Sudan and Sierra Leone among other countries, most often treating patients who have been displaced from their homes due to natural disasters or political conflict and who have no access to health care.
Research has shown that at the MSF-managed neonatal unit in Aweil Hospital, rural South Sudan, where Stewart was assigned, overall mortality declined from 2011 to 2014 despite increasing admissions. MSF provision of emergency obstetric care combined with a functional patient transfer system was associated with a rapid and substantial reduction in maternal mortality in Kabezi district, rural Burundi. In 2015, MSF had 103 projects offering obstetric and newborn care in 28 countries, with 243,300 births assisted, including Caesarean sections.
Why choose a career in healthcare? Stewart derives a lot of satisfaction from being a role model for her children
