Following the targeted attack on March 15 against Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) staff vehicles travelling between the Turgeau Emergency Center and the Carrefour Trauma Hospital, and in light of the deteriorating security situation in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, MSF has taken the difficult decision to withdraw from these two medical facilities for a minimum of three months.
This period will allow an assessment as to whether the evolving security context enables the return of MSF teams.
Vehicles carrying MSF staff were fired upon
Before the attack, MSF had already evacuated the Turgeau Emergency Center, because fighting had advanced dangerously close to the hospital, with stray bullets often landing in the hospital compound. Staff were evacuating from Turgeau to the Carrefour Trauma hospital on the only route between the two facilities, using clearly identified MSF vehicles when they were fired upon. The vehicles were deliberately targeted by at least one hooded man in uniform and were struck 15 times. The incident has forced MSF to stop using this route.
“The Turgeau Emergency Center and the Carrefour Trauma Hospital are closely linked in their operations,” said Benoît Vasseur, MSF head of mission in Haiti. “Without the possibility of using this road to transfer patients, transport personnel, or deliver medical supplies, these facilities can no longer function. This is why we have also been forced to withdraw from Carrefour as of April 9, 2025. This is an extremely painful decision at a time when the population's vital medical needs continue to grow.”
At these two medical facilities, MSF teams noted an alarming increase in the number of victims of violence. From January to March 2025, MSF treated more than 750 people for violent trauma. At the same time, these two medical facilities carried out over 3,600 medical consultations and treated more than 3,600 patients with emergency medical needs. They were the only medical facilities in the area to offer care free-of-charge to victims of road accidents and domestic accidents, or to refer the patients to appropriate facilities.
MSF’s medical programs continue in other locations
Despite these withdrawals, MSF is continuing its activities in other medical facilities in Port-au-Prince and the south of Haiti. The Tabarre Trauma Reference Center continues to treat victims of serious burns, accidents and violence. Drouillard Hospital in Cité Soleil maintains a 24-hour emergency service, which includes physical and mental health treatment for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. The Pran Men'm clinic continues to provide comprehensive medical and psychological care to sexual violence survivors, including at its main facility in Delmas and at the Isaïe Jeanty maternity hospital.
Crisis in Haiti: What to know
Read moreSince 2021, MSF has also been running mobile clinics to several sites for displaced persons and disadvantaged neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince. However, medical referrals have been suspended for all MSF teams in Port-au-Prince. Finally, in the south of Haiti, notably in Port-à-Piment and in the surrounding area, MSF continues to provide emergency obstetric and neonatal care, as well as maternal health services.
For over 30 years, MSF has responded to the major crises that have hit Haiti—earthquakes, hurricanes, cholera epidemics—and continues to support the population in the face of the current violence. However, MSF staff cannot continue risking their lives to provide this service. Previously, on November 22, 2024, the organization had to suspend all operations for about three weeks due to repeated attacks and threats against its staff. This is the second critical incident the organization has suffered in the last four months, and MSF is still waiting for the results of the investigations carried out by the Haitian authorities.
“The extreme suffering of people in Haiti makes this decision all the more heartbreaking, but a dead or injured doctor or nurse can do nothing for patients in need,” said Vasseur. “We reiterate our appeal to all parties concerned to respect the medical mission and ensure the protection of health structures, ambulances, patients, and staff.”
