A domino player wears a paperclip on his arm every time he loses at a public school that serves as a refuge for people forced to flee their homes due to clashes between armed groups in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, April 22. 2024. Haiti's health system has long been weak, but it is now close to complete collapse after gangs launched a coordinated attack on February 29, targeting critical national infrastructure in and around the capital. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A woman began convulsing at a hospital in the heart of a gang-controlled area in Haiti's capital on a recent morning as a doctor and two nurses rushed to rescue her. My body went limp.
They attached electrodes to her chest and turned on her oxygen machine, staring at a computer screen that reflected a dangerously low oxygen level of 84%.
No one knew what was wrong with her.
Even more worrying, Médecins Sans Frontières' hospital in the shantytown of Cité Soleil was running out of vital drugs to treat seizures.
“There are very few medications that she really needs,” said Dr. Rachel Lavigne, a physician with the Medical Assistance Group.
It's a familiar scene that plays out every day in hospitals and clinics across Port-au-Prince. As brutal gangs tighten their grip on the capital and surrounding areas, life-saving medicines and equipment are dwindling or completely gone. It blocked roads, forced the closure of the main international airport in early March and paralyzed operations at the country's largest seaport, where containers filled with key goods remained stranded.
“Everything is falling apart,” Lavigne said.
Haiti's health care system has long been weak, but it is now close to complete collapse after gangs launched a coordinated attack on critical infrastructure in and around the capital on February 29.
The violence forced the closure of several medical institutions and dialysis centers, including Haiti's largest public hospital. Haiti's National University Hospital in downtown Port-au-Prince was closed at the start of the attack and was scheduled to reopen on April 1, but the gang invaded.
One of the few medical institutions still operating is Peace University Hospital, located south of the closed airport. From February 29 to April 15, the hospital treated about 200 patients with gunshot wounds, but beds remain full.
“We are operating on generators, so we urgently need fuel. Otherwise, we risk closing our doors,” said hospital director Dr. Paul Junior Fontillas. said in a statement.
More than 2,500 people were killed or injured across Haiti between January and March, an increase of more than 50% compared to the same period last year, according to a recent United Nations report.
Gang violence erupts daily in Port-au-Prince, so even if hospitals are open, they may have little or no medical staff, and doctors and nurses may stay at home or be attacked by heavily armed men. If they encounter a road that is closed, they are forced to turn back.
Amid the chaos, the number of people suffering from cancer, AIDS and other serious illnesses continues to rise, with little or no recourse, and gangs loot and burn pharmacies in the capital's downtown areas. are doing.
Lavigne said Médecins Sans Frontières itself is running out of many medicines used to treat diabetes and high blood pressure, and asthma inhalers, which can help prevent deadly attacks, are nowhere to be found in the capital.
At a Médecins Sans Frontières hospital, medical staff recently tried to save a boy who had suffered a severe asthma attack by giving him oxygen, she said. That didn't work, and neither did other types of drugs. They ended up injecting him with epinephrine, which is used in emergencies to treat anaphylactic shock.
“We're going to improvise and do what's best for the people here,” Lavigne said.
Jacob Burns, project coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières, warned that people's health status is worsening because they cannot access the daily medicines they need for chronic illnesses.
“It gets serious and you run out of options,” he says. “For certain people, the options are very limited right now.”
Despite the urgent medical needs, Médecins Sans Frontières Hospital in Cité Soleil has reduced the number of outpatients it sees each day from 150 to 50, although it responds to all emergencies. They say they are forced to reduce the number of people.
Dozens of people line up outside hospitals every day, risking being shot by members of gangs that control the area while waiting for medical care.
Anyone is allowed to enter the hospital premises, but medical staff will set up a triage to decide which 50 people will be seen. Burns said those with less urgent needs will be asked to return another day.
On Friday morning, 51-year-old Jean-Marc Baptiste limped into the emergency room with a bloody bandage on his right hand. He said he was shot dead by police in an armored vehicle the previous day while collecting wood to sell as kindling in a gang-controlled area.
Once inside, nurses removed the bandages to reveal a gaping wound on his thumb as he screamed in pain. Lavigne told him the hospital didn't have a plastic surgeon but needed one, and he ordered an X-ray to check for broken bones.
Staff say the Cité Soleil hospital sees an average of three injured people a day, but now the number sometimes reaches 14.
Five people recently arrived at the hospital with gunshot wounds after spending a night on a public bus stuck in heavy gunfire, Burns said.
“Cité Soleil has been a center of violence for a long time,” he says. “And now the violence is rampant and it’s a problem for everyone.”
