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UN PhotoUNICEF / HAITI HEALTH SYSTEM COLLAPSING
STORY: UNICEF / HAITI HEALTH SYSTEM COLLAPSING
TRT: 04:13
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNICEF ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 16 MAY 2024 CAP-HAITIAN, HAITI
1. Wide shot, nurse looks inside vaccine cold box
2. Med shot, nurse looks inside vaccine cold box
3. Wide shot, nurses and vaccinator put vaccines inside cold box
4. Med shot, vaccinator puts vaccines inside cold box
5. Med shot, vaccinator looks inside vaccine cold box
6. Wide shot, vaccinator writes
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Bruno Maes, Representative in Haiti, UNICEF:
“The escalating violence in port au Prince and Artibonite is plunging Haiti into a humanitarian disaster.”
8. Close up, vaccinator prepares vaccine
9. Med shot, vaccinator prepares vaccine
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Bruno Maes, Representative in Haiti, UNICEF:
“Not only are children trapped, but so are the critical supplies that are meant to cure and nourish them.”
11. Close up, child hugs her mother
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Bruno Maes, Representative in Haiti, UNICEF:
“And despite all these challenges, we just received 38 tons of vital health supplies.”
13. Med shot, child and mother smile
14. Various shots, vaccinator prepares vaccine
15. Various shots, child sits on father’s lap
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Bruno Maes, Representative in Haiti, UNICEF:
“UNICEF is also sourcing vital, ready to use therapeutic food right here in Haiti.”
17. Wide shot, mother sits with sick baby in her lap as a doctor walks by
18. Wide shot, mother sits with sick baby in her lap
19. Med shot, mother sits with sick baby in her lap. Focus on IV pole first then mother
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Bruno Maes, Representative in Haiti, UNICEF:
“These supply 600 health facilities across the country, alongside several mobile clinics in areas where access is a challenge.”
21. Wide shot, mother sits with sick baby in her lap
22. Med shot, mother sits with sick baby in her lap
23. Med shot, mother sits with sick baby in her lap
24. Close up, portrait of the sick baby on mother’s lap
25. Close up, portrait of the sick baby on mother’s lap
26. Close up, portrait of the sick baby on mother’s lap with zoom
27. SOUNDBITE (English) Bruno Maes, Representative in Haiti, UNICEF:
“When supplies hit children, children have a chance to a healthy life. When supplies reach children, children can go to school. They can play. They can just be children.”
Med shot, scale used to weigh children (malnutrition screening) dangles
24. Wide shot, nurse and mother put child on the scale (malnutrition screening)
25. Med shot, child on scale (malnutrition screening)
26. Various shots, scale, then mother holding child
27. Wide shot, child on mother’s shoulder
28. Med shot, child lays down as he looks into the camera
29. Med shot, MUAC (Middle-upper arm circumference) screening for malnutrition
30. Wide shot, MUAC (Middle-upper arm circumference) screening for malnutrition
31. Wide shot, MUAC (Middle-upper arm circumference) screening for malnutrition
32. Med shot, mother holds child
33. Med shot, mother holds child
34. Close up, mother washes child’s hands
35. Med shot, mother handles RUTF (Ready to use therapeutic food) to make it softer so her child can eat it
36. Close up, RUTF in mother’s hands
37. Med shot, child eats RUTF
38. Close up, child eats RUTF
39. Close up, child looks and taps onto the camera
40. Close up, child eats RUTF
An alarming six out of ten hospitals in Haiti are barely operational as recent escalating violence in Port-Au-Prince has continued to deprive children of critical health supplies and medicine, UNICEF warned Monday (21 May).
Every hospital in the country has reported difficulties in acquiring and maintaining essential medical supplies, as international and domestic cargo flights from and to Port-Au-Prince airports returned to be operational only recently, with limited capacity and a significant backlog, as did the main seaport, which was previously in the hands of armed groups.
Containers filled with vital supplies have been held up, or were looted, as were many warehouses and pharmacies. Meanwhile, hundreds of containers loaded with humanitarian supplies sit stranded in Port-Au-Prince – including UNICEF containers holding neonatal, maternal, and medical supplies.
Port-Au-Prince, Haiti’s main logistical hub, normally receives and dispatches the consignments of health imports in the country. Now paralyzed by violence, and with over 160,000 of its residents displaced, the city is unable to cover the needs of a population that is concurrently fighting physical trauma and the risk of disease.
SOUNDBITE (English) Bruno Maes, Representative in Haiti, UNICEF:
“The escalating violence in port au Prince and Artibonite is plunging Haiti into a humanitarian disaster.”
“Not only are children trapped, but so are the critical supplies that are meant to cure and nourish them.”
“And despite all these challenges, we just received 38 tons of vital health supplies.”
“UNICEF is also sourcing vital, ready to use therapeutic food right here in Haiti.”
“These supply 600 health facilities across the country, alongside several mobile clinics in areas where access is a challenge.”
“When supplies hit children, children have a chance to a healthy life. When supplies reach children, children can go to school. They can play. They can just be children.”
Waves of displaced families seeking safety and security, especially in the southern part of the country, are creating additional pressure on local health services, which were barely able to cope with demand before the latest escalation of the crisis. Staff shortages are widespread, with about 40 per cent of all medical staff having left the country due to the extreme levels of insecurity.
Between October 2022 and April 2024, Haiti reported a total of 82,000 suspected cases of cholera. About 4.4 million people in Haiti are in urgent need of food assistance, and 1.6 million people face emergency levels of acute food insecurity, which increases the risk of child wasting and malnutrition. The arrival of the rainy season is expected to worsen the situation, bringing a rise in cases of water-borne disease as well as disease spread by mosquitos, such as malaria.
To respond to the situation, UNICEF and partners are ramping up alternatives to the capital’s import and dispatch hubs. Through secondary import and delivery routes, together with the Ministry of Health, international donors and partners, UNICEF has been able to continue to deliver vaccines, medicines and medical equipment to the children in Haiti who need them most.
On 18, 20 and 21 May 2024, UNICEF facilitated the delivery of 38 tons of life-saving supplies, including health and cholera kits, and other essential medical commodities to Haiti via a European Union Humanitarian Aid-supported and WFP-operationalized air bridge from Panama to Cap-Haitian, where UNICEF and the UN established a new operational hub. But much more assistance is needed.
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