Includes bibliographical references and index.

An often harrowing account of the men and women who struggle to improve the lives of people in desperate need. The humanitarian organization, Doctors Without Borders (also known as Médecins Sans Frontières or MSF) delivers emergency aid to victims of armed conflict, epidemics, natural disasters and those who lack reliable health care. Each year, more than 2,500 volunteer doctors, nurses, and other professionals join locally-hired staff to provide medical aid in more than eighty countries. This book follows these volunteers as they risk their health and lives to treat patients in need. It also covers the raucous founding of Doctors Without Borders in 1971 as the first non-governmental organization to both provide emergency medical assistance and publicly bear witness to the plight of the populations they served. In 1999, the organization was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.--From publisher description.