Four of us were able to head down to London for the annual Friends of MSF AGM. This was a very well organised event which brought together representatives from all the UK Friends of MSF associations (including groups from such distant places as Cork and Aberdeen - very impressive commitment!). We spent the morning discussing what each group had been up to in 2008. Some groups, such as Cambridge's, were brand new, while others such as UCL's clearly consisted of veterans with great experience of raising money for MSF. All in all, we heard some great ideas of events which have had a lot of success in other universities, and we'll certainly be trying to emulate them in Oxford in 2009.

Lunch saw us cast our ballots to elect the new National Committee. Congratulations to the new team: Peter Scolding (President, UCL), Tom Adams (Speakers Liaison, UCL), Julia Neely (New Groups Officer, Cambridge) and Ayame Taniguchi (Events Coordinator, Imperial College), who all seemed to be highly enthusiastic and overflowing with brilliant projects!

In the afternoon we had presentations from several members of MSF UK. A couple stood out:

 Oliver Moldenhauer (AEM Coordinator for MSF Germany) told us about the Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines. I would      strongly urge you to read about this important project, the aim of which is to improve access to existing medical tools as well as      promoting the development of new and better ones - the website is surely a good place to start.

 Marc Dubois, Executive Director of MSF UK, talked to us about what 'crisis response' actually means. In fact, he started right at the      beginning, reminding us of what the point of MSF is: fundamentally, it's about saving lives, reducing suffering and preserving human      dignity. It turns out that the places where you can do the most life-saving tend to be so-called 'crisis' settings. But defining the term,      particularly if that definition is going to direct where you send MSF staff, is an important and tricky exercise. An extraordinary event,      such as the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004, without doubt constitutes a crisis; but what about the on-going situation in Sierra Leone,      where malaria takes the lives of countless children every year and maternal mortality is among the highest in the world? Is this not      equally a crisis? We also considered how we might measure the need that is required? It is often a combination of medical, social and      psychological needs that MSF encounters, and simply showing that you care (être à côté des malades) is sometimes just as important to      the affected populations as the expensive treatment you can bring.

We wrapped up the afternoon with a series of stimulating workshops looking at some of the ethical, logistical, cultural and medical challenges that MSF faces during its missions.
This was a fascinating and inspiring day for all the students involved, and I for one am certainly looking forward to next year's!

RM