After 15 months of providing medical and humanitarian assistance, in support of local actors, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) will conclude its medical operations in the Dodecanese islands by 31 October 2025.
Since August 2024, MSF teams have provided essential primary healthcare and mental health support to migrants, refugees, asylum seekers – including families, survivors of violence, and individuals living with chronic conditions. The people we assisted arrived after long and traumatic journeys, in fragile physical and psychological condition. Behind every arrival in the Dodecanese iss a person with a story, hopes, and the right to be treated with dignity and care as they come seeking protection.
Our teams treated acute and chronic illnesses, provided mental health care, offered medical follow-up for survivors of violence, and delivered intercultural mediation in multiple languages.
Complex medical cases were managed through a multidisciplinary approach, involving medical doctors, psychologists, social workers, and health promoters/intercultural mediators, ensuring a more holistic response to patients’ needs.
MSF’s presence in the Dodecanese was designed as a targeted, short–term medical intervention to respond to the unmet needs of people arriving in the Dodecanese islands. As the context evolves, we are reallocating resources to strengthen our focus on key areas of the mainland and adjusting our operations to respond effectively to the evolving situation on the ground.
MSF’s impact in the Dodecanese:
- 2056 medical consultations for urgent and chronic conditions
- 35 medical certificates (including sexual violence and scar mapping)
- 287 first mental health assessments and follow up consultations
- 48 mental health certificates issued
- 1 Donation of medical supplies to the local hospital
- Donation of hygiene and food kits to Leros Solidarity
While our medical operations in the Dodecanese end, our commitment to people seeking assistance remains unchanged. MSF continues to provide medical and mental health support in Lesvos and Samos and stands ready to respond should new medical needs arise.
As we leave the Dodecanese, MSF extends its sincere gratitude to our staff, local partners, interpreters, and the local community who made this work possible.
