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Haiti: MSF forced to suspend its activities after armed men killed a patient

28 Nov 23

Haiti: MSF forced to suspend its activities after armed men killed a patient

30 January 2023

MSF teams support the vaccination campaign led by the Haitian ministry of Health (MSPP) in Cité Soleil, one of the areas of Port-au-Prince most affected by the disease, on 21 December 2022. Caption
MSF teams support the vaccination campaign led by the Haitian ministry of Health (MSPP) in Cité Soleil, one of the areas of Port-au-Prince most affected by the disease, on 21 December 2022.
© Djenane Madona Baptiste/MSF

Port-au-Prince: On Thursday, 26 January, armed men entered the MSF-supported public hospital of Raoul Pierre Louis in Carrefour, a commune located to the West of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince. The men dragged a patient out of the emergency room and killed him outside the hospital. It is the second time this hospital faces a similar incident in a timeframe of six months: MSF is left with no other choice than suspending its activities in the hospital.

This patient is in the surgery room with a gunshot wound in Port-au-Prince. Caption
This patient is in the surgery room with a gunshot wound in Port-au-Prince.
© Johnson Sabin

In the afternoon, three armed masked men intruded the hospital of Raoul Pierre Louis. In the emergency room, they took a patient who was admitted for a gunshot wound and was lying on a stretcher. Violently, they dragged him out of the hospital. About ten meters outside of the hospital grounds, he was executed with a bullet in the head.

 

“This is the second time we have this kind of incident in this hospital. We are again shocked by this punitive expedition, which violates all humanitarian principles and the protection this patient should have inside a medical structure,” declared Benoit Vasseur, MSF’s head of mission in Haiti, referring to an incident that occurred on 14 August 2022.

 

“Faced with this unacceptable violence, we have no other choice than temporarily suspending all our activities in the hospital of Raoul Pierre Louis, as long as we cannot guarantee the safety of our staff and patients,” said Benoit Vasseur.

Following the reception of 1.17 million doses of vaccine on 12 December from the International Coordinating Group, a vaccination campaign began on 18 December, led and managed by the MSPP. MSF teams are offering support in terms of logistics, facilitating access for the MSPP vaccination teams, distribution of hygiene items and waste management. Caption
Following the reception of 1.17 million doses of vaccine on 12 December from the International Coordinating Group, a vaccination campaign began on 18 December, led and managed by the MSPP. MSF teams are offering support in terms of logistics, facilitating access for the MSPP vaccination teams, distribution of hygiene items and waste management.
© Djenane Madona Baptiste/MSF

MSF has been working in Haiti for more than thirty years, offering medical care to the most vulnerable communities. MSF exhorts everyone bearing arms, whoever they are, to respect its medical work: patients, staff, medical structures and ambulances.

 

The incident occurred on a day marked by manifestations and riots in several parts of the capital and its surroundings. In a few hours’ time, six people with gunshot wounds were brought to MSF’s emergency center in Turgeau, including a high school student who had already died at arrival. In this context, safe access to emergency healthcare needs to be respected, more than ever.