Haiti: MSF resumes activities at the Isaïe Jeanty Maternity hospital despite access to healthcare remaining fragile

Port-au-Prince, 27 July 2026 – After a three-week suspension due to violent clashes between armed groups, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has gradually resumed activities at the Isaïe Jeanty Maternity Hospital in Cité Soleil, working alongside the Ministry of Public Health and Population. Since 14 July, the facility has been operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This resumption of services means women can once again access care, in a context where access to health services remains extremely difficult.

The facility was forced to suspend its activities on 19 June, following five days of intense fighting between armed groups in Cité Soleil, during which bullets struck the maternity. Initially, our teams remained on site with a reduced staff to maintain a minimum level of care. But as the violence escalated, they were forced to leave the facility.

“It was a particularly difficult decision, as we know how significant the sexual and reproductive health needs are in Cité Soleil. But continuing under these conditions would have put more lives at risk,” explains Diana Manilla Arroyo, MSF head of mission in Haiti.

The fighting has also severely affected residents of Cité Soleil, forcing many of them to flee their homes. ​

“Armed men came [to my house], so I grabbed my children and left. My neighbours helped me escape. My brother is a motorbike driver; he wanted to come back to help me, but he came across some armed men who held him and locked him in our house before setting it on fire. He was killed”, says a patient being treated at an MSF mobile clinic, located a few kilometres from the maternity hospital.

A relative lull has since enabled the MSF teams to gradually return to the maternity unit and resume its services there, alongside the MSPP: obstetric care, including emergency care, and care for survivors of sexual violence. In the first half of 2026, the maternity ward supported 995 deliveries and provided care to 122 survivors of sexual violence.

In Port-au-Prince, armed clashes continue to disrupt access to healthcare for thousands of people. MSF reiterates that healthcare facilities, patients and medical staff must be protected at all times to ensure continued access to care.

MSF also provides free care at Cité Soleil Hospital, Orezon Health Center in Brooklyn, as well as at Tabarre Hospital and Pran Men’m Clinic Delmas 33 further north.