Haiti earthquake: MSF scales up emergency response to meet growing needs | Doctors without borders

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Haiti’s Directorate General of Civil Protection (DGPC) says 137,000 families have been affected in the provinces of Grand Anse, Nippes and the South. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), there are approximately 650,000 people in need of emergency humanitarian assistance. According to Haiti’s civil protection office, the provisional death toll now exceeds 2,200, and more than 12,000 people have been injured as of August 22.

Landslides and flooding from recent storms, including Tropical Storm Grace, have caused additional damage to areas where people are already struggling to access essential services such as medical care. This complicated rescue efforts by making more areas inaccessible and endangering tents and temporary structures for use for urgent medical care, aid and shelter. In addition, it has further isolated many municipalities in affected areas from the rest of the country, making it difficult to obtain accurate counts of deaths and injuries.

In terms of infrastructure, nearly 53,000 homes have been destroyed, and more than 77,000 damaged in the three worst-affected provinces, according to Haiti’s Office of Civil Protection as of August 22. This has left thousands of people without shelter and vital buildings such as hospitals, schools, hotels, churches and businesses. According to preliminary estimates made by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 36 health facilities were damaged or destroyed by the earthquake. Many hospitals have had to evacuate their patients, and facilities that are still operating are overcrowded and short of medical equipment and medicine.

Responding to the needs of the citizens of the South Governorate

In the first hours after the earthquake, the MSF team based in Port-a-Paint and the emergency medical team from Port-au-Prince began assisting injured patients in the South Province. The hospital in Port-a-Paint, where MSF runs a sexual and reproductive health project, was damaged. The patients, mostly seeking maternity services, were evacuated to a tent where our team continues to provide care. In Port-a-Piment, MSF is also stabilizing and facilitating the referral of earthquake-affected patients, including patients that MSF was able to evacuate from nearby Les Angles, cut off from the rest of the province due to road damage.

In Les Cayes, the capital of the southern province, MSF started its surgical activities at the Hôpital Général des Cayes – also known as L’Hôpital Immaculée Conception – along with logistical support. MSF also runs a mobile clinic, distributes essential non-food items, and performs water and sanitation activities in three communities serving 1,600 displaced families. In addition, MSF has made donations, such as tents and medical supplies, to various hospitals in Les Caye to ensure the continuation of medical activities.

In Port Salute, the MSF team received patients with fractures and fractures, including patients referred from Port-a-Paint, Les Angles and Les Cayes, and provided them with stabilization, surgery and aftercare. On the first day of response, 26 patients were received at this site.

On Monday, August 23, MSF began operating a mobile clinic in remote communities, including Manich, Camp Perrin and Cavaillon, where people have less access to aid and health care and have been hardest hit by the earthquake.

MSF also made donations of medical supplies to three health centers to help facilitate stabilization and referral of patients in Les Angles, Chardonnay and Rendell.

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