Fighting Ebola and Saving Lives in the DRC
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is once again facing a serious Ebola outbreak, prompting the World Health Organization to declare the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on May 16 after cases of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola were confirmed in the DRC and neighbouring Uganda. In response, we have deployed rapid-response teams across affected areas to support screening, treatment, infection prevention, frontline health worker training and community outreach, to help contain the disease and protect vulnerable populations. To learn more, visit our Ebola Response Hub.
But even as we work to contain Ebola, other urgent healthcare needs remain.
At one of our mobile medical units (MMUs) in remote North Kivu, 2-year-old Ombeni arrived barely responsive and severely weakened by pneumonia after his family was unable to access treatment elsewhere.
Within hours of receiving treatment, he began to improve. Two days later, he left the clinic alert, eating and recovering his strength.
Ombeni’s story highlights why our work in the DRC extends beyond outbreak response. Alongside efforts to stop Ebola and other disease outbreaks, our teams continue to provide essential healthcare, nutrition, protection, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services to people affected by conflict, displacement and limited access to care—ensuring families can get the support they need, no matter the crisis. Learn more about our work in the DRC.
Rebuilding Access to Healthcare for Syria’s Families
After years of conflict and displacement, families across Syria are beginning to return home—but many are returning to communities where healthcare systems remain shattered.
Parents are struggling to access essential care for their children, while women and girls continue to face heightened risks linked to conflict and instability.
Our teams are providing lifesaving care for children and newborns while supporting programs that protect women, girls and children from violence. Across the country, we deliver healthcare, nutrition, mental health and WASH assistance through fixed health facilities and through mobile medical teams that reach vulnerable communities wherever they are.
Delivering Lifesaving Supplies After the Mayon Volcano Eruption
When Mayon Volcano erupted in the Philippines’ Albay province on May 2, a familiar landmark became a source of danger. Thick clouds of ash quickly blanketed dozens of villages, disrupting the daily lives of more than 100,000 people and forcing families to flee their homes. Thousands remain in evacuation centers as communities continue to grapple with the aftermath of yet another eruption by one of the country’s most active volcanoes.
We’re helping local health authorities deliver critical healthcare services during the emergency. Working closely with Municipal Health Offices, we are providing protective equipment—including N95 masks for adults and smaller face masks for children—as well as essential medicines and medical supplies needed to treat respiratory conditions caused by volcanic ash exposure.
As communities wait for the ash to settle, so they can begin the long process of recovery, the priority remains clear: ensuring that—even in the shadow of an active volcano—health services do not stop when people need them most.
Ensuring Safe Births for Mothers Displaced by War
When you’re a pregnant woman caught in the middle of a war zone, healthcare can be almost impossible to find. Yet at International Medical Corps’ three field hospitals in Gaza, women continue to arrive in search of something essential: a safe place to give birth.
Maryam Al-Ja’al was 13 weeks pregnant when an airstrike left her paralyzed from the waist down. Later, at 38 weeks, she gave birth via C-section under close specialist care at our Al Zawaida field hospital.
In Deir Al-Balah, Amal Abu Zarqa arrived in premature labor with twins after a high-risk pregnancy. Through coordinated obstetric and neonatal care, she safely delivered two baby girls—one of whom required intensive respiratory support in the neonatal intensive-care unit.
In 2025 alone, our midwives and doctors assisted more than 5,000 deliveries across our three field hospitals in Gaza—helping to ensure that, even amid conflict, safe birth is still within reach.
Restoring Clean Water, Power and Dignity at a Hospital in War-Torn Sudan
At Umdawanban Hospital in Sudan, conflict has stripped away the basics of care. Since fighting began in April 2023, the hospital—which had been serving more than 70,000 people—has been left without reliable electricity or water. Patients and staff have had to endure conditions where even simple treatment became a risk, and lifesaving services were pushed to the brink.
International Medical Corps stepped in to restore what had been lost. Over just one month, our team rebuilt essential lifelines: clean water points for patients and families, safe and accessible sanitation facilities, and a strengthened solar-power system that restored round-the-clock electricity.
Patients who once struggled without safe water or reliable care can now walk into a hospital where lights stay on, vaccines are protected and clean water flows again.
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International Medical Corps is a global first responder that delivers emergency medical and related services to those affected by conflict, disaster and disease, no matter where they are, no matter the conditions. We also train people in their communities, providing them with the skills they need to recover, chart their own path to self-reliance and become effective first responders themselves. Established in 1984 by volunteer doctors and nurses, we are a nonprofit with no religious or political affiliation, and now have more than 8,000 staff members around the world, 96% of whom are locally hired. Since our founding, we have operated in more than 80 countries, and have provided more than $4.2 billion in emergency relief and training to communities worldwide.
Our staff includes experts in emergency medicine, infectious disease, nutrition, mental health, maternal and infant health, gender-based violence prevention and treatment, training, and water, sanitation and hygiene, all within the humanitarian context.
To arrange an interview on or off the record, contact our Media Relations team at media@internationalmedicalcorps.org.