Doctors Universal (DU)

Organization Profile: Doctors Universal (DU)
Governance Structure: Not-For-Profit Board of Governors, HQ on Atlantis, Europa
Funding: Donations, Patents on research.

Description:
DU is an interplanetary medical humanitarian organization created by doctors and journalists in 2143. It is a revitalization of the defunct organization Doctors Without Borders, which did not survive the chaotic transition from Earth to scattered space colonies. (It was the advent of the jumpdrive in 2127 that made the concept on a large scale a reality again.)

The goal of the organization is to provide much needed aid to people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe, primarily due to armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, exclusion from health care, or natural disasters. DU provides independent, impartial assistance to those most in need. It is neutral and does not take sides in armed conflicts, provides care on the basis of need alone, and pushes for increased independent access to victims of conflict. It operates independently of any political, military, or religious agendas. Medical teams conduct evaluations on the ground to determine a population's medical needs before opening programs.

The key to DU’s ability to act independently in response to a crisis is its independent funding. Eighty-nine percent of DU's overall funding comes from private sources, not governments. In 2289, DU had more than three million individual donors and private funders across the Confederated Planets of Humanity and Chung Kuo.
Much of the care given by DU is to colonists who find themselves outside the protection and care of both of these superpowers. There has long been, and still is, dissension in DU as to whether the Chilrandi and Xitichui are deserving of equal care as humans, despite this ongoing contention a xenobiology branch of the DU was created in 2287.