PRESSMEDDELANDE! HAITI ETT HALVÅR EFTER KATASTROFEN
Pressmeddelande från MdM International, Paris, 7 Juli 2010:
700,000 people still living in tents in Port au Prince
At six months after the earthquake and at the start of the hurricane season, the timing for the reconstruction of Haiti is critical. Although the health situation remains under control, the living conditions of the disaster victims in Port au Prince and its region (1.3 million people) are extremely difficult. "Things are getting worse" for many, the daily situation is not improving, but instead worsening with the ending of food distributions. The Haitian authorities must quickly implement tangible signs of improvement, with the support promised by but slow to arrive from United Nations and the different States.
Mobilising funds promised by the international community for a truly equitable healthcare system
To date, only a few hundred million dollars of the $10 billion pledged have actually been paid by the different States and donors: it is high time that these promises be kept; things need to move faster. The 10 billion dollars in aid pledged by the international community at the conference in New York in March would provide for and implement a health care system more equitable in terms of cost and implementation in the poorest and least accessible districts. Some clinics set up by MdM and other NGOs in the context of the emergency could then make a permanent commitment to providing a new quality of health care for the poorest Haitians.Following the earthquake, the Haitian government has decreed health care free for all for six months. Today, the announced measure only guarantees that drugs be free, until October. The return to a system of paid hospital care excludes the majority of the population including the most vulnerable: pregnant women and children under 5 years old. For this population, free health care should be guaranteed at the least and become a permanent measure of Haiti's healthcare system.
A fragile health situation
No spread of contagious disease, few cases of malaria and typhoid fever diagnosed and placed on treatment, vaccination of children and infants, tracking and management of cases of moderate or severe malnutrition: the actions implemented by NGOs including Doctors of the World, have helped limit the effects of disasters on health. They have also made it possible for thousands of Haitians to have the first real access to care. Before the earthquake, more than 60% of the population had had no access to care. Today, 5,000, free medical consultations are conducted each week by MdM teams in 10 clinics in tents set up in the poorest districts. It remains difficult to refer a patient for treatment at hospital and transfers between hospital services are very complicated.
MDM France figures: 10 clinics, 123,000 people receiving care, nearly 112,000 consultations since the beginning of January, including 20,000 for reproductive health.
Improved living conditions: too little, too slowly
The living conditions of the 1.3 million quake victims remain pathogenic. Once given care, people return to live in tents with no food distribution and with difficult access to drinking water; meanwhile the rains are growing increasingly frequent. Powerlessness and frustration for caregivers, misunderstanding and anger among the population after six months, there is no major project for improvement of living conditions. Proposals for new relocation camps both removed from the capital and inadequate were suspended without other solutions being proposed. Little or no information is given to the population of the 400 camps on a possible return to homes identified as safe. A collective message must be given promptly to people that they can return to these homes. Stronger temporary shelters must be built at a faster pace. In late June, only 3,000 such shelters had been built.
"We cannot forget": the trauma is still there
Several times a week at each of the 10 MdM sites, adult discussion groups, workshops for children and individual interviews are held. "Every morning people come to see me for imaginary ills," says Dr Emanuela "after they have apparently nothing but if you ask them questions, they say they can’t sleep, can’t eat, that they are constantly reliving the 52 seconds of the earthquake. I suggest they see a psychologist or participate in a discussion group"
Recounting the earthquake, describing every detail, how one managed to survive, those who have disappeared, with no body found in many cases: for many participants, the discussion group is an opportunity to tell what they experienced to strangers for the first time. It’s only several months afterwards that trauma presents. Everyone says "We can’t forget. We just can’t make sense of the past”. They tell of their suffering from everyday living " I'm not normal anymore. I simply can’t seem to be the same way I was before.”
Playing games, drawing, singing: since April, 6,000 children have participated in socio-educational workshops. Their drawings are explicit: a house destroyed in all colours and a large hand coming out of the rubble, it’s his dead mother, killed during the earthquake that this little boy has depicted. The MdM children’s’ workshop ends with a song to protect them from violence and they all sing "do not hurt the flower, leave the butterfly alone, free in his happiness, do not hurt the child."
After several months living in tents in crowded conditions and a very serious lack of security, cases of violence and especially sexual violence are on the rise in many MdM camps. Women--but also children--are the main victims. Six months afterwards, the trauma is still very present, the population in anguish: psychological support must continue beyond the emergency phase. This component should be incorporated into the plan for reconstructing Haiti's healthcare system.
Financial situation
MdM France has collected 5.8 million euros: 5.2 million in private donations, 660,000 euros in public grants, of which 300,000 are from ECHO (European Commission). Doctors of the World France has spent 3.1 million euros in six months on the initial emergency phase. The organisation, which has been active for over 20 years, has been involved in the rebuilding of access to care in Haiti for several years before the earthquake. The international network of Médecins du Monde has received a total of 14.1 million Euros and has spent 6 million Euros on the initial emergency phase.
Watch the Doctors of the World France video: 6 months afterwards, rebuilding with Haitians (in French) by clicking here: http://www.medecinsdumonde.org/fr/Presse2/Videos/Haiti-6-mois-apres
Press contacts:
Annabelle Quénet, Florence Priolet: +33 01 44 92 14 32-31 / 06 09 17 35 59
infomdm@medecinsdumonde.net
www.medecinsdumonde.org
700,000 people still living in tents in Port au Prince
At six months after the earthquake and at the start of the hurricane season, the timing for the reconstruction of Haiti is critical. Although the health situation remains under control, the living conditions of the disaster victims in Port au Prince and its region (1.3 million people) are extremely difficult. "Things are getting worse" for many, the daily situation is not improving, but instead worsening with the ending of food distributions. The Haitian authorities must quickly implement tangible signs of improvement, with the support promised by but slow to arrive from United Nations and the different States.
Mobilising funds promised by the international community for a truly equitable healthcare system
To date, only a few hundred million dollars of the $10 billion pledged have actually been paid by the different States and donors: it is high time that these promises be kept; things need to move faster. The 10 billion dollars in aid pledged by the international community at the conference in New York in March would provide for and implement a health care system more equitable in terms of cost and implementation in the poorest and least accessible districts. Some clinics set up by MdM and other NGOs in the context of the emergency could then make a permanent commitment to providing a new quality of health care for the poorest Haitians.Following the earthquake, the Haitian government has decreed health care free for all for six months. Today, the announced measure only guarantees that drugs be free, until October. The return to a system of paid hospital care excludes the majority of the population including the most vulnerable: pregnant women and children under 5 years old. For this population, free health care should be guaranteed at the least and become a permanent measure of Haiti's healthcare system.
A fragile health situation
No spread of contagious disease, few cases of malaria and typhoid fever diagnosed and placed on treatment, vaccination of children and infants, tracking and management of cases of moderate or severe malnutrition: the actions implemented by NGOs including Doctors of the World, have helped limit the effects of disasters on health. They have also made it possible for thousands of Haitians to have the first real access to care. Before the earthquake, more than 60% of the population had had no access to care. Today, 5,000, free medical consultations are conducted each week by MdM teams in 10 clinics in tents set up in the poorest districts. It remains difficult to refer a patient for treatment at hospital and transfers between hospital services are very complicated.
MDM France figures: 10 clinics, 123,000 people receiving care, nearly 112,000 consultations since the beginning of January, including 20,000 for reproductive health.
Improved living conditions: too little, too slowly
The living conditions of the 1.3 million quake victims remain pathogenic. Once given care, people return to live in tents with no food distribution and with difficult access to drinking water; meanwhile the rains are growing increasingly frequent. Powerlessness and frustration for caregivers, misunderstanding and anger among the population after six months, there is no major project for improvement of living conditions. Proposals for new relocation camps both removed from the capital and inadequate were suspended without other solutions being proposed. Little or no information is given to the population of the 400 camps on a possible return to homes identified as safe. A collective message must be given promptly to people that they can return to these homes. Stronger temporary shelters must be built at a faster pace. In late June, only 3,000 such shelters had been built.
"We cannot forget": the trauma is still there
Several times a week at each of the 10 MdM sites, adult discussion groups, workshops for children and individual interviews are held. "Every morning people come to see me for imaginary ills," says Dr Emanuela "after they have apparently nothing but if you ask them questions, they say they can’t sleep, can’t eat, that they are constantly reliving the 52 seconds of the earthquake. I suggest they see a psychologist or participate in a discussion group"
Recounting the earthquake, describing every detail, how one managed to survive, those who have disappeared, with no body found in many cases: for many participants, the discussion group is an opportunity to tell what they experienced to strangers for the first time. It’s only several months afterwards that trauma presents. Everyone says "We can’t forget. We just can’t make sense of the past”. They tell of their suffering from everyday living " I'm not normal anymore. I simply can’t seem to be the same way I was before.”
Playing games, drawing, singing: since April, 6,000 children have participated in socio-educational workshops. Their drawings are explicit: a house destroyed in all colours and a large hand coming out of the rubble, it’s his dead mother, killed during the earthquake that this little boy has depicted. The MdM children’s’ workshop ends with a song to protect them from violence and they all sing "do not hurt the flower, leave the butterfly alone, free in his happiness, do not hurt the child."
After several months living in tents in crowded conditions and a very serious lack of security, cases of violence and especially sexual violence are on the rise in many MdM camps. Women--but also children--are the main victims. Six months afterwards, the trauma is still very present, the population in anguish: psychological support must continue beyond the emergency phase. This component should be incorporated into the plan for reconstructing Haiti's healthcare system.
Financial situation
MdM France has collected 5.8 million euros: 5.2 million in private donations, 660,000 euros in public grants, of which 300,000 are from ECHO (European Commission). Doctors of the World France has spent 3.1 million euros in six months on the initial emergency phase. The organisation, which has been active for over 20 years, has been involved in the rebuilding of access to care in Haiti for several years before the earthquake. The international network of Médecins du Monde has received a total of 14.1 million Euros and has spent 6 million Euros on the initial emergency phase.
Watch the Doctors of the World France video: 6 months afterwards, rebuilding with Haitians (in French) by clicking here: http://www.medecinsdumonde.org/fr/Presse2/Videos/Haiti-6-mois-apres
Press contacts:
Annabelle Quénet, Florence Priolet: +33 01 44 92 14 32-31 / 06 09 17 35 59
infomdm@medecinsdumonde.net
www.medecinsdumonde.org
