Haiti
: Canadian Portfolio
Violence and conflict
Since December 2006, MSF has operated an emergency health centre in Martissant, a neighbourhood characterised by daily violence and a lack of medical facilities. Every day, patients are referred from the emergency health centre to the other hospitals where MSF works. MSF established a number of mobile clinics in the heart of the Martissant neighbourhoods, with medical teams offering primary healthcare to some 400 patients a day. At the end of 2007, MSF handed over its project in the slum of Cité Soleil, where the security situation has improved, to the Ministry of Health. The project started in July 2005 to guarantee access to care for victims of the violence. The ongoing presence of MSF teams, even during the most intense fighting, resulted in 72,000 consultations at the primary health centre of Chapi and 32,000 at Choscal hospital, where more than 13,000 patients were hospitalised. However, since April the situation has got better, with no patient with a bullet wound seen at the Choscal hospital and people in the neighbourhood no longer living in fear and isolation. MSF continued to provide medical and surgical care at its Trinite trauma centre in Port-au- Prince, admitting more than 14,000 patients compared with 11,000 in 2006. The number of admissions for gunshot wounds fell from 1,300 in 2006 to 500 in 2007, although the number of victims of stab wounds, rape and beatings continued to rise. In total, 2,847 patients were admitted for violence-related trauma. Throughout the year, MSF medical teams focused on improving quality of care, working to perfect the recently introduced surgical technique of orthopaedic internal fixation. A total of 205 patients benefited from this technique, which sharply reduced their length of stay in hospital. MSF also operates a physical rehabilitation centre where patients needing specialised post-operative treatment can receive physiotherapy and psychological care. In June, MSF increased its capacity to treat victims of sexual violence in the capital, offering comprehensive psychological and medical treatment. The programme treated 242 victims between July 2006 and June 2007. Awareness campaigns emphasising confidentiality and the need to seek treatment within 72 hours resumed in July in the shantytowns and city centre.Maternal health needs
Maternal mortality rates in Haiti are the highest in the western hemisphere (approximately 630 women die for 100,000 births), mainly due to eclampsia. The insecure urban slum environment where many women live limits their access to healthcare as physical and sexual violence, extortion and common crime are serious threats. In 2006, the emergency maternal Jude Ann hospital was opened in Port-au-Prince, the only hospital in Haiti to offer free emergency obstetric care. By the end of 2007, over 13,000 women had given birth here. MSF also started providing services in fixed clinics in selected slum communities, with ante- and post-natal care and a referral service in the three slums of La Saline, Pelé Simon and Solino. Mental health services will be added in 2008. MSF has worked in Haiti since 1991.News Articles
Haiti: MSF distributes tents after storm destroys shelters in camp - 15 July 2010
Haiti: Key data on earthquake emergency relief published by MSF - 08 July 2010
Haiti: Time passes but medical needs persist - 19 May 2010
MSF in Haiti: Three months after the Earthquake - 14 April 2010
Haiti: Healing a wounded country - 01 April 2010
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