MSF Haiti: Health System and Civilians Trapped in Escalating Violence

In a context where nearly two in five Haitians are in urgent need of medical care due to widespread insecurity and violence, 60 to 80 percent of Port-au-Prince’s health facilities are closed or non-functional for the same reasons.

Between January and June 2025, MSF teams assisted 2,600 survivors of sexual violence, admitted 13,300 patients to emergency rooms and treated 2,267 victims of violence. Among these, 26 percent were minors, compared to 11 percent in 2024. Most minors were under the age of 15, and one third were girls. Thirty percent of all minors admitted for violence-related injuries suffered gunshot wounds.

“These figures reflect the alarming deterioration of the situation in Haiti, where civilians, including women and children, are increasingly exposed to danger every day,” said Mumuza Muhindo Musubaho, MSF Head of Mission in Haiti. “Civilians must be spared by the parties to this conflict.”

On September 20, 17 wounded people were treated at the MSF hospital in Drouillard following a drone attack carried out the same day in the Cité Soleil neighbourhood. Among these patients, were two men who were already dead on arrival, another man who died while being transferred, ten women—one of whom died en route to MSF’s trauma hospital in Tabarre—and three children who tragically did not survive their injuries. Two more women injured in this attack died at the nearby Isaïe Jeanty maternity hospital, where MSF is also working.

This violence is occurring in the context of a territorial conflict with the population directly on the frontlines, trapped between the threat of explosive drones and the brutal violence of armed groups that loot and burn homes, destroy neighbourhoods, terrorize communities, and increasingly use sexual violence as a weapon of control, punishment, and extortion.

On average, about 18 percent of patients followed through MSF’s primary healthcare project in neighbourhoods controlled by armed groups report that they avoid using public transportation to reach medical facilities outside these areas, fearing they might be targeted.

The restricted movement of residents, combined with the widespread closure of hospitals since 2024 due to armed attacks, looting, the exodus of medical staff, and difficulties in supplying medicines, has drastically reduced and centralized the availability of healthcare, leaving a large share of the population without access to vital services.

This situation also places extreme pressure on the facilities that remain operational, notably MSF’s trauma hospital in Tabarre, which has increased its bed capacity by 50 percent, with 26 percent of trauma cases linked to violence. Only one major public hospital is still functioning in the capital, Hôpital universitaire de la Paix, and it is regularly overwhelmed.

“This devastating context fuels a profound sense of abandonment among Haitians. And, it must be said, the severe decline in healthcare availability—a crisis within the crisis—also leaves the few remaining humanitarian and medical actors with the impression of being overwhelmed by ever-growing needs,” added Musubaho.

MSF remains fully committed to supporting the Haitian population and works closely with the Ministry of Public Health and Population. It is imperative that civilians, healthcare workers, and medical facilities be protected.