On July 7, 2023, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HaitiThe Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Tabarre, Port-au-Prince, was violently entered by about 20 armed men last night, and one patient receiving treatment for gunshot wounds was forcibly removed from the operating room.
MSF vehemently rejects this incursion, which highlights the unprecedented level of violence that is now happening in Port-au-Prince. The Tabarre hospital has temporarily ceased all trauma and burn treatment operations as a result of this tragedy.
According to Mahaman Bachard Iro, director of MSF’s activities in Haiti, even the weak, ill, and injured are not exempt from the brutality and disregard for human life displayed by the contending parties in Port-au-Prince. “How are we supposed to continue giving treatment in this setting, as health professionals? Because these men threatened to kill them, we must first figure out what happened and provide some relief for our mistreated medical professionals. In order to analyze the circumstances for a prospective return to our activities, we have chosen to halt them temporarily.
MSF reiterates its plea for respect for medical facilities so that they may continue to provide care to the people of Port-au-Prince. MSF is steadfast in its commitment to supporting the Haitian people, who have suffered the brunt of the country’s dramatic deterioration in security conditions in recent years. MSF is still running several other medical initiatives in Haiti in addition to the Tabarre hospital.
In 2022, MSF teams in Haiti, working with the ministry of health, performed more than 4,600 surgeries, 34,200 emergency consultations, 17,800 mobile clinic consultations, treated 2,600 victims of gunshot wounds, 370 victims of burns, 2,300 victims of sexual assault, and attended to 700 births.