P-to-P, April 23, 2024 [AlterPresse] — A sharp increase in the number of injured is putting enormous pressure on the few hospitals, which operate in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, as they are significantly short of medical supplies amid a surge in violence army, notes the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Some health establishments in the most affected areas are working at a tight pace, due to the increase in the number of patients, and several others have been forced to close their doors due to crime, indicates the ICRC in a note transmitted to AlterPresse.
“There is a serious shortage of medical supplies, including medicines, essential equipment, hospital beds and blood products.”
Currently, the only public hospital operating in Port-au-Prince is the Peace University Hospital (Hup), located in the peripheral area of Delmas and directed by Dr. Paul Junior Fontilus.
Gunshot wounds are flocking to La Paix Hospital, as armed gang activities intensify throughout the Delmas area, where it is located.
From February 29 to April 15, 2024, the health establishment received approximately 200 gunshot wounds. The hospital is currently saturated, in terms of bed occupancy, with enormous needs, reports the ICRC.
The organization announces necessary measures to respond to urgent needs and improve the population’s access to health care and humanitarian services. But impediments to movement due to crime and improvised roadblocks remain major obstacles to the delivery of urgent medical supplies.
The ICRC recently provided dressing and surgical kits, hygiene and maintenance products (Sanipit and Probiotic), accompanied by personal protective equipment to health establishments, including the Peace University Hospital, the Saint Camille Hospital, Saint Luc Hospital and Bernard Mevs Hospital.
It is at the cost of enormous sacrifices that healthcare personnel manage to reach healthcare centers, to help save the lives of Haitians, trapped by armed violence.
Many health workers cannot go to their workplaces, leaving functioning hospitals understaffed. Patients whose lives are in danger can no longer receive emergency care.
Meanwhile, in many communities, access to food, water and fuel is cut off. This has a considerable impact on the most vulnerable and complicates the situation.
This is an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, which has worsened since the escalation of armed violence at the end of February 2024, underlines the ICRC.
From January to March 2024, (a number of) 2,505 people were killed and injured in violence linked to armed gangs in Haiticounted the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (Binuh), in a report dated Friday April 19, 2024.
These cases of murders and injuries increased by more than 53% compared to the period from October to December 2023. Which means that the first three months of 2024 represent the most violent period since the year 2022, notes Binuh. [apr 23/04/2024 07:00]
Photo: archives Cicr
