During an outbreak of disease, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services are paramount for everyone affected: patients, their family, members of the community and healthcare staff. This is true as the Ebola outbreak rages on in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where our MHPSS officers, psychologists and psychosocial support staff are hard …
Delivering Mental Health Support in Ukraine For people living close to the front lines in Ukraine, the sounds of war are a daily reality. The constant threat of shelling, the loss of homes and loved ones, and the stress of displacement have left many people carrying invisible wounds—often with limited access to the mental health …
Partnering with the US Government to Stop the Spread of Ebola in Central Africa When an outbreak of infectious disease happens, communities are often unprepared. After an outbreak of Ebola was declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in mid-May, many health facilities had to be adapted to screen and treat patients—and some …
Rana*, a 35-year-old Lebanese woman and eldest daughter, took on responsibility for her family after her father’s death in 2019, even as she was grieving. Years later, conflict displaced her and her family, further shaking her sense of safety and stability. Over time, her distress began to manifest through severe physical symptoms—her heart would race …
International Medical Corps is working with the government of Nigeria to expand access to specialized mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) in the Gwoza Local Government Area (LGA). Through targeted outreach, care is now reaching people where they are—helping people affected by years of insecurity, displacement and economic hardship. In this context, many people living …
Teaching Preparedness in North Carolina Most national, state and local governments plan for large-scale disasters—floods, fires, earthquakes, tornadoes—but preparing for such disasters can be challenging, especially for smaller communities. International Medical Corps frequently works in unpredictable scenarios—the “edge cases” that might not be covered even by the most robust plans, such as large-scale sudden-onset disasters, …
Our Syria mission recently had its first opportunity to serve children in Aleppo with visual, hearing, mental and physical impairments, when the Syrian government asked our teams specializing in Child Protection, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) for help. When our staff met with administrators at the Al-Amal …
Even before full-scale war broke out in Ukraine in February 2022, the country’s prevalence of depression disorders, at 5.2%, was among the highest in Europe. As people have lost homes, loved ones and livelihoods since the Russian invasion, the rate of depression has risen exponentially—to about 44%. There is an overwhelming need for mental health …
Providing Critical Care amid Conflict in Sudan Since fighting erupted in April 2023, Sudan has descended into what is now the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with an estimated 33 million people expected to need assistance in 2026. Nowhere is the impact more visible than in Darfur, where years of instability have given way to renewed …
When it comes to mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services, International Medical Corps is leading the way in Mali, a country that is severely lacking in such programming. Our MHPSS work in Mali stretches back to 2019, when we first conducted multi-region assessments of the mental health services available and found gaps in service …