Haiti’s Ministry of Health estimates that nearly 40 percent of facilities providing treatment beds, including the country’s main university hospital, have closed in the past two months alone due to insecurity and looting, mainly committed by gangs.
Haiti, and Port-au-Prince in particular, continues to suffer unprecedented levels of lawlessness and brutality, as gangs continue to fight for influence and territory.
Meanwhile, about 580,000 people have been displaced in the country.
Here are five things you need to know about the current health situation in Haiti and what the United Nations is doing to help.
1. Access to healthcare is scarce
The security crisis is having a huge impact on an already fragile healthcare system.
Access to health care, essential social services, hygiene and psychological support is scarce in Haiti and capacity, particularly in the capital, remains extremely limited.
© WHO/Lorens-mentor
Dr. PAHO’s Oscar Barreneche meets patients at the Hôpital Universitaire de La Paix, in Port-au-Prince.
Health facilities have closed or drastically reduced operations as medicines and essential medical supplies run out, some of which have been looted.
In the department of Artibonite, just north of the capital, where gangs have recently taken over, only a quarter of health care facilities are functional.
The number of available medical staff, who are often unable to work due to safety concerns, is also decreasing. UNICEF estimates that about 40 percent of health care workers have recently left the country “due to the extreme level of uncertainty.”
2. Women and children suffer
According to the UN agency for sexual and reproductive health, an estimated 3,000 pregnant women are struggling to access maternal health care due to the closure of hospitals and health facilities. UN-FPA.
© UNICEF/Ralph Tedy Erol
A child in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, learns the importance of washing her hands for her health.
The neonatal, pediatric and nutritional units that are still functioning are overloaded and the few units that remain active in the areas controlled by armed groups do not have sufficient staff, equipment and medicines to provide essential health and nutrition services.
The UN is concerned that a child health and nutrition crisis could cost the lives of countless children. Insecurity in Port-au-Prince has made it virtually impossible for supplies to reach at least 58,000 children suffering from severe malnutrition in the metropolitan area.
The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) also has warned that violence and insecurity affect the mental health of displaced people, including women, and lead to stress and even suicidal behavior.
3. The healthcare system is still functions
According to the UN, two in five Haitians need urgent care. Despite the many challenges the country faces, the healthcare system is still functioning and some patients are receiving the treatment they need.
The Hôpital Universitaire de La Paix in Port-au-Prince, which is supported by PAHO, is one of the first healthcare facilities to provide care, including treatment of gunshot wounds and other emergency care.
© WHO/Lorens Mentor
The Hôpital Universitaire de La Paix, in Port-au-Prince, continues to provide health care to patients.
The hospital director, Dr. Paul Junior Fontilus, told PAHO that an emergency plan had been activated “to better manage the influx of seriously injured people. Our priority is to ensure that all victims receive the immediate care they need.”
4. There are some positive developments
The international airport in Port-au-Prince was closed due to gang activity, but is operational again, a positive development according to Dr. PAHO’s Oscar Barreneche said: “The reopening of the airport has given us a lifeline, allowing us to replenish critical medical supplies. supplies and equipment. Yet the fight is far from over as humanitarian conditions gradually deteriorate for an increasing number of Haitians.”
The arrival in Haiti of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission (which is supported by the UN Security Council is not a UN operation), will provide operational support to Haitian police in combating gangs and increasing security around critical infrastructure such as hospitals.
The UN Security Council also called on the MSS, through its support to the police, to help ensure unhindered and safe access to humanitarian assistance for those receiving aid.
5. UN agencies continue to respond
Together with local partners, the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations provide life-saving assistance every day.
In places where displaced people have fled, PAHO provides support together with IOM, UNFPA and the World Food Programme (WFP).
© UNOCHA/Giles Clarke
Displaced people seek shelter in a boxing arena in central Port-au-Prince after being forced to flee their homes due to gang attacks.
UNFPA and PAHO are supporting three hospitals in Port-au-Prince to provide maternal health care, including emergency obstetric care. It is also providing medicines and supplies, including for the clinical treatment of rape survivors, to 13 health facilities in the capital and the surrounding region. It has deployed mobile clinics in seven displaced population locations to support the sexual and reproductive health of women and girls, reaching nearly 4,500 people so far.
Thousands of them dignity kits with hygiene and other essential supplies have also been distributed to the most vulnerable.
Dr. Oscar Barreneche of PAHO said: “We are faced with ongoing challenges that require unwavering support and action to ensure stable and accessible life-saving health care for the people who need it.”
Read the UN Humanitarian Office, OCHA‘s latest emergency report here.
