area. Palestinian Territories: Merlin has worked in the Palestinian Territories since 2002. It has implemented programmes in both Gaza and the West Bank, aiming to increase access to health care and improve rural health care, in particular. In 2007, Merlin began operating exclusively in Qalqilya and Salfit districts of the West Bank – the areas most isolated by the separation barrier. Following the violence in the Gaza Strip in December 2008/January 2009. Merlin has increased community access to primary and specialist medical services through mobile and fixed clinics, and improved the availability of safe blood supplies. It has also conducted home visits and health education to reduce disease through early diagnosis. North America Merlin launched an emergency response within 48 hours of the earthquake and mobilised a specialised surgical and medical team to Delmas 33, a suburb of Port-au-Prince. On an abandoned tennis court, Merlin established a fully functional, tented surgical hospital. In partnership with Medicos del Mundo (MDM Spain), Merlin is also operating a mobile clinic team in and around the rural areas of Petit Goave and Grand Goave, which are two hours from the capital of Port-au-Prince. The mobile clinic circuit includes seven villages, each of which are underserved with significant health needs. Merlin's teams of doctors and nurses offer basic, maternal and neo-natal health care, while referring more severe cases to local hospitals for secondary treatment as needed North Asia Following the collapse of communism in the Former Soviet Union, Russia experienced a 42% increase in cases of tuberculosis (TB). Merlin worked for over ten years with TB patients at Tomsk in Siberia. Merlin pioneered treatment methods, combining traditional systems with new home-based treatment, to combat the rise in the disease. The work was so successful that it was adopted by the Russian Ministry of Health as the nationwide flagship programme for TB treatment. Merlin also supported a hospital TB ward, and supported TB-infected prisoners with medical and social support before and after their release. At the close of programmes, TB incidences had fallen by 6% in Tomsk, whereas elsewhere in Russia they had risen by 10%. In 2006 the Russian Federal Security Service accused Merlin and other foreign NGOs of being covers for foreign intelligence gathering operations. However, this is reflective an overall trend of suspicion by the Russian government of NGOs, as in 2012 they passed a law requiring all politically active foreign NGOs to