Haiti’s Health System Teeters on the Brink of Collapse

The situation in violence-ravaged Haiti is becoming increasingly desperate. The United Nations Children’s Fund Unicef has sounded the alarm, warning that the country’s health system is “on the verge of collapse.”

According to Unicef, six out of ten hospitals in Haiti are barely operational.

Unicef’s representative in Haiti, Bruno Maes said a combination of factors are overwhelming the health system.

He says:

“The combination of violence, mass displacement, dangerous epidemics, and increasing malnutrition has bent Haiti’s health system,”

Armed gangs control much of the capital, Port-au-Prince, putting millions of children at risk of disease and malnutrition. The country has been mired in instability since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, leading to increased gang dominance. Currently, 4.4 million people in Haiti urgently need food assistance, with 1.6 million facing emergency levels of acute food insecurity, heightening the risk of child wasting and malnutrition.

Port-au-Prince’s international airport recently reopened after nearly three months of closure, but Unicef reports that it is operating at limited capacity with a significant backlog. The capital’s situation is especially dire, with vital supply containers either held up or looted. Many warehouses and pharmacies have also been targeted.

Director of strategic planning at the Haiti-based NGO Zanmi Lasante,Reginald Fils-Aimé, explained the impact of gang control on logistics. “By controlling the roads to and from the capital, gangs severely affect the supply chain and all transportation, including healthcare staff and patient transportation,” he said. His NGO has been working in the central Artibonite department since the 1980s, an area now also under gang control.

Dr. Fils-Aimé added that essential medicines are in short supply, exacerbating the health crisis. “Recently, there was a shortage of IV fluids, diuretics, blood pressure medicine, and beta-blockers. Children and babies living in camps for the internally displaced are particularly vulnerable to non-hygienic environments and the water-borne diseases that they spread. Now that the rainy season has started, they are also exposed to vector-borne diseases such as malaria.”

Country director of the Haitian Health Foundation (HHF), Nadesh Mijoba described the additional challenges faced by healthcare providers. “Many areas where health services were once available have been closed down due to attacks and destruction of infrastructure. For HHF, our patient load is increasing significantly as patients walk farther distances in search of health services, often at very high risks of violence, kidnapping, rape, and even being killed.”

As Haiti’s health system teeters on the edge, the international community’s response will be crucial in averting a complete collapse.

The combination of armed conflict, supply chain disruptions, and widespread health emergencies requires urgent and coordinated intervention to prevent further deterioration.