Photo © Gaël Turine |
Working amid intensifying violence
Many people in Haiti's capital city, Port au Prince, live in constant fear.
They have been trapped by widespread politically motivated and criminal
violence since President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was pressured into
exile in 2004. More than one-third of the city is considered extremely
dangerous and at the mercy of armed groups. Violence against civilians
in Port au Prince is a daily occurrence, and the number of wounded
treated by MSF continues to grow.
The deteriorating security situation in Port
au Prince led MSF on 5 July 2005 to call
publicly on all armed groups to respect the
safety of civilians and to allow the wounded
to obtain emergency medical care.
Ironically, the following day, the UN
Stabilization Mission in Haiti launched a
day-long military operation in the Cité
Soleil slum, and the trauma center received
27 gunshot victims — three-quarters of
whom were women and children.
In April 2005, MSF opened a basic health
care project in the city's Decayette area.
The MSF team provides primary health care
at no charge to city residents, especially
women and children in an effort to promote
and improve access to high-quality
health care for this population. By mid-
2005, the team was carrying out 120 consultations
a day. In August 2005, MSF also
started operations in Cité Soleil, where it
carries out more than 150 consultations
each day in the primary health care center
of Chapi Hospital and St. Catherine
Laboure Hospital.
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"Every day, people throughout the city tell us that they
have never experienced such levels of violence before"
— Ali Besnaci, MSF Head of Mission in Haiti | |
MSF is also treating victims of sexual violence
in the capital, through its existing
programs for victims of violence. The program
offers outreach, treatment and referral
to further psychological care, protection
and legal assistance. Despite the availability
of these services, it remains difficult for
victims to gain access to them, because of
the severe social stigma surrounding rape
and because of victims' fear of retaliation.
In the country's central Artibonite department,
south of the coastal city of Gonaïves,
MSF works in the commune of Petite
Rivière within health structures in Jean-
Denis, Segur and Charles Colimon, providing
basic health care, with a special focus
on women of reproductive age and children. In the Charles Colimon health center,
MSF has integrated voluntary HIV counseling
and testing to help prevent mother-to-child transmission of the virus.
Renewed flooding
In September 2004, tropical storm Jeanne
hit northwestern Haiti, causing severe
flooding in Gonaïves. With more than 2,000
people dead, 3,000 injured and tens of
thousands left homeless, MSF mobilized an
emergency team and began offering care
in a health center in Robateau, in the western
part of the city. Medical equipment and
supplies, including emergency kits sufficient
to treat 10,000 people, were transported
from Port au Prince. MSF conducted
more than 500 consultations a day, many
involving minor surgery, during the initial
period. Mental health care, malaria treatment
and water and sanitation support
were also provided.
From mid-October 2004 until the end of
the year, MSF worked in other areas affected
by the storm, carrying out more than
2,000 consultations in the health center of
the town of Chansolme, near the city of
Port au Paix, and an additional 500 consultations
in the villages of Paulin and Aubert.
MSF supported the public hospital in Port
de Paix, reorganized the emergency room
enabling it to receive up to 80 patients a
day and provided staff to reinforce the
pediatric and maternity wards. The team
also helped rehabilitate the hospital's pediatric
ward, water system and waste management
area. Toward the end of 2004,
MSF started working in a second health
center, named K-Soleil, in Gonaïves, providing
emergency medical care and maternity
care and treating children at the town's
public hospital. This emergency intervention
ended in February 2005.
MSF has worked in Haiti since 1991. |
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