PORT-AU-PRINCE, September 5, 2024 — On Tuesday, September 3, a Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) ambulance carrying a patient in critical condition was stopped by police in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and detained, preventing our team from providing the necessary care.
The patient was suffering from an open fracture and was in urgent need of hospital care. Held for more than an hour, the patient finally died before reaching a hospital.
“We denounce this serious obstruction of our medical mission,” said Sophie Mealier, MSF head of mission. “As an organization committed to providing free care to the people of Haiti without discrimination and according to the principles of medical ethics, MSF calls on all armed actors in Haiti to respect our medical teams and guarantee patients have rapid and safe access to medical care."
Unjustified blockages of humanitarian movements put lives at risk and are unacceptable.
