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On Monday, the international humanitarian organization “Doctors Without Borders” released its twelfth annual top ten list of the worst humanitarian crises of 2009. The plight of civilian populations victimized by conflict and the lack of adequate funding to address pressing health concerns such as HIV/AIDS permeate this year’s compilation. In particular, the organization highlighted the pattern of governments blocking crucial aid to populations in need in countries such as Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Sudan. Also noted was the severe hampering of Doctors Without Borders to carry out medical humanitarian work in conflict-ravaged countries such as Yemen and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In addition, the “top ten” list focused on public health crises and the inadequate responses of the international community. Chief among them was the reduction and limitation in spending for programs like the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria and the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS relief. The humanitarian organization notes that the timing of decrease in funding couldn’t be worse as demand for assistance by HIV/AIDS patients around the world will increase. Global malnutrition and the lack of an adequate response were also cited as a serious concern. Currently international spending to combat hunger amounts to $350 million dollars when the World Bank estimates that $11.8 billion dollars is what is needed. Doctors Without Border first compiled its list in 1998 in response to a famine in Sudan that was underreported in the U.S. media.

GUEST: Dr. Matthew Spitzer, President of Doctors Without Borders, USA

For more information, visit doctorswithoutborders.org