Supporting the district hospital in Mon, Nagaland

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) supported a government-run hospital in Mon district of Nagaland; ensuring people have easy access to healthcare in this remote corner of India.

A few years ago, the only facility run by the government for 2,70,000 residents was in a poor state, leaving it underused. In 2010, MSF partnered with the local government to refurbish Mon District hospital and train its staff. Our medical and administrative professionals since worked alongside them to help improve their skills.

MSF developed the pharmacy, set up a biomedical waste management system, integrated laboratory, new state of the art delivery room and an operation theatre (the only functioning one in the region) and improved infection control and hygiene.

MSF has now handed over the hospital to the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Nagaland. As MSF departs, it hopes that the facilities at the hospital will continue to serve the people of Mon.

Countering tuberculosis

MSF surprisingly discovered high numbers of patients with tuberculosis (TB) in Mon. If left untreated, the disease can lead to death.

Treatment for TB is hard to find in this secluded part of India. MSF built a special chest ward and a Designated Microscopy Centre at the hospital to care for patients and provide multiplied stocks of medicines. We also supported people who showed resistance to the drugs usually prescribed for treatment, developing a hard-to-treat strain of the disease called multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Curing MDR-TB can take as many as two years with patients often suffering severe side effects.

Awards

MSF receives Nagaland governor’s medal for Mon project

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) was awarded the Nagaland Governor's Gold medal during the Independence Day ceremony on 15 August 2013 in recognition of the “distinguished services” rendered by MSF in Mon District Hospital. We supported the hospital from 2010 till 2014. Read more

View photostory to find out how this hospital became self-reliant with MSF’s support.

Photostory: MSF treating DR-TB patients in India's Nagaland state