 "Haiti's 'nonexistent' healthcare on verge of collapse as gangs set hospitals on fire")
Haiti’s already disarrayed healthcare system is at risk of collapsing, aid workers have said as the Caribbean nation reels under gang violence, leaving little to no hope for the treatment of victims caught in fire.
As the healthcare system continues to dwindle, Haiti now has only one operational public hospital in the capital city of Port au Prince. In the last two weeks, several hospitals have been set on fire and doctors have been murdered while medical supplies including essential medicines dried up.
Mackynzie Archer, a consultant advising leading medical NGOs in Haiti said, “The healthcare system in Port-au-Prince is basically nonexistent,” adding that the situation is deteriorating quickly.
In what has become the worst case of violence in Haiti’s history, with its prime minister forced to step down from his duties, fighting between the armed gangs has paralysed the country’s capital.
‘Residents reduced to nomads’
The gang violence in the Caribbean nation has forced thousands to flee their homes, with the United Nations estimates saying more than 360,000 people have been displaced in the country.
Haiti’s woes don’t end here. With street fighting spiking in recent weeks, hospitals are forced to shut their doors to emergency patients as healthcare institutions are unable to get the staff, power, or supplies they need to treat patients.
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More Shorts“Residents of Port-au-Prince have been reduced to forced nomads, constantly moving between neighbourhoods, seeking refuge with relatives or strangers, or residing in temporary shelter,” said Laurent Uwumuremyi, director for Haiti at the American charity Mercy Corps.
Doctors say that armed bandits are looting and destroying hospitals as they ravage cities across the country.
Talking to the New York Times, Dr Ronald V LaRoche said, “They took everything – the operating rooms, the X-rays, everything from the labs and the pharmacies. “Imagine! They are taking windows from hospitals! Doors!”
Healthcare workers scared to step out
Amid this, healthcare workers are staying at home to avoid being caught in the crossfire or assassinated by teenagers for treating police officials or rival gang members.
Last week, Dr Nathalie Barthélémy Laurent was killed near her home in Port au Prince after her car was attacked.
According to BBC reporters, there is no medical staff present at the State University of Haiti hospital, one of the main medical care centres in the country.
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