ABSTRACT

All forms of humanitarianism address broad issues relating to health. However, the terms ‘humanitarian medicine’ and ‘medical humanitarianism’ refer more specifically to the provision of biomedical care, mainly by programmes employing physicians and nurses. The provision of emergency medical care has been integral to humanitarianism since the origins of the concept, and medics have had a significant influence on shaping humanitarian agendas ever since. The Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders – MSF) have been the most influential humanitarian medical agencies and are the main focus of the chapter. Founded in the 1860s the Red Cross movement pioneered approaches for the provision of humanitarian medicine in war zones, based on principles of neutrality and impartiality. MSF draws on aspects of the Red Cross movement, but was founded in the early 1970s by those who rejected the constraints within which the Red Cross works. It has been the quintessential model for medical humanitarianism. It follows a more interventionist agenda which essentially suggests that, in emergency situations, medicine trumps politics. One of the founders of MSF, Bernard Kouchner, has been a particularly significant figure, expanding the impact of his ideas about the right to intervene through his subsequent roles in the French government and the United Nations. One effect has been to justify the use of security forces for humanitarian purposes on medical grounds. This chapter ends with reference to the Security Council Resolution which highlighted Ebola as ‘a threat to international peace and security’ in 2014, and provided for military deployment.