Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has commenced emergency medical activities at Gwoza General hospital in Borno state, northeast Nigeria. The project, launched in August 2025 to support the Ministry of Health, aims to provide lifesaving care for people who have been deeply affected by years of extreme violence and limited access to healthcare.
Operating in a newly rehabilitated facility in the Gwoza General hospital, the emergency department, which MSF supports, includes a resuscitation room, advanced stabilisation room, a wound dressing room, and separate observation rooms for men and women.
These facilities enable our teams to treat acute trauma and medical emergencies across all age groups, providing stabilisation before transferring patients to the hospital's inpatient departments. We also assist with referring patients who require specialised lifesaving care to Maiduguri, the state capital.
Between 8 August and 30 November, MSF admitted 1,606 patients in the emergency room. During the same period, we also referred 30 patients in critical condition to the University of Maiduguri Teaching hospital for higher-level care.
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"Gwoza is home to thousands of internally displaced people who face severe gaps in access to essential services," says Dominic Nzioka Mwonga, MSF's project coordinator in Gwoza. "The need for emergency services, in particular, is immense."
"By running the hospital's emergency department, together with Ministry of Health staff, we also aim to strengthen Gwoza General hospital's capacity to deliver care to both the displaced communities and the communities hosting them," says Mwonga.
People in Gwoza, located in the far southeast of Borno state near the Cameroonian border, have been heavily affected by years of armed conflict, repeated displacement, and limited access to essential services. This includes large numbers of internally displaced people living in and around the town, many of whom have fled recurrent violence in outlying areas, including armed attacks, improvised explosive device incidents, and clashes between armed groups.
In this context of chronic insecurity and limited functioning health facilities, people often arrive at the emergency room with trauma injuries, complications from prolonged medical conditions, and other life-threatening illnesses. MSF's support to emergency medical services in Gwoza aims to help ensure timely, lifesaving care for communities that continue to face significant humanitarian and health needs.
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"I was not conscious when I was brought here," says Hajara Musa, a mother of twins who was treated for heart failure.
In addition to providing emergency care, MSF conducts health promotion activities and offers clinical training to the Ministry of Health staff. However, there are still overwhelming needs that go beyond medical care. Many residents, both in private homes and in displaced persons' camps, urgently require access to clean water, sufficient food, and proper sanitation facilities, such as latrines.
MSF has worked in Borno state since 2014 and remains committed to supporting the Ministry of Health to ensure continuity and sustainability of services. In addition to Gwoza, we also work in the capital, Maiduguri, providing essential and specialised care for malnutrition, and paediatrics and maternal health.
