WHO warns health system in Haiti 'on brink of collapse' due to ongoing violence

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - The World Health Organization (WHO) chief on Friday warned that the health system in Haiti is "on the brink of collapse" due to ongoing violence.

"WHO is deeply concerned about the impact of violence on hospitals and health centers in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, where less than 50% of facilities are functioning at normal capacity," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.

Tedros also stressed that the ones that remain functional are "running out of supplies."

"This means people are being deprived of access to basic health care," he said and highlighted the "urgent need" for increased support and funding from the international community so that lifesaving services can be provided and critical supplies delivered.

A political deadlock and surging gang violence in the country escalated after President Jovenel Moise's assassination in 2021.

Since Feb. 29, armed men have burned police stations, attacked government offices, airports and raided the country’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.

More than 2,500 people have been killed or injured from January to March and more than 95,000 have fled the nation’s capital since early March.