
In anticipation of the prime minister’s visit, heavily armed Haitian police monitored the area around the University hospital in Port-au-Prince on Tuesday.
Over five months ago, gangs took over most of the territory in the capital of Haiti, leaving the main hospital shuttered.
Sunday night, following a brief gunfight with a few gang members still on the loose, authorities evacuated the neighborhood.
Bullet holes abound in the walls of the hospital and surrounding buildings, a testament to the brutality and multiple shootouts that took place in Port-au-Prince’s downtown, which is located close to the National Palace.
The U.N.-backed Kenyan police unit had recently been deployed to assist curb the rising violence, so the Haitian National Police moved to retake the hospital and the gang-encroached region.
Under strict protection, the head of Haiti’s police chief and Prime Minister Gary Conille paid a visit to the hospital. Conille called that part of the country a “war zone.”
The attacks by criminal groups have brought Haiti’s healthcare sector dangerously close to collapse.
There is a shortage of resources for treating the increasing number of people with severe illnesses brought on by the increased violence.
The rainy season is predicted to worsen conditions and increase the danger of waterborne illnesses, adding more strain to Haiti’s already precarious healthcare system.
Since the gang violence spike in February of this year, many more hospitals and clinics in the city have been forced to close, making it more dangerous for patients and medical personnel to access healthcare facilities. (Africanews)
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