MSF awarded Nobel peace prize

The international humanitarian organisation, Medicins sans Frontieres (MSF), has been awarded the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize. MSF was quoted in news reports as saying that it was “very pleased and very honoured” to be the winner. “To be rewarded today for so much effort with something so great is fantastic,” said press officer Cecile Guthmann at the Paris office. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said MSF had won the prize for “pioneering humanitarian work on several continents.” It added: “Since its foundation in the early 1970s, Doctors Without Borders has adhered to the fundamental principle that all disaster victims, whether the disaster is natural or human in origin, have a right to professional assistance given as quickly and as efficiently as possible.”