Haiti healthcare near collapse, says UN, as state of emergency extended
PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Reuters) - Haiti's government yesterday said it would extend a state of emergency around Portau-Prince for another month as gang violence that has threatened to bring down the government and led thousands to flee their homes appeared to show no sign of abating.
The U.N. humanitarian affairs agency warned that the country's health system was "nearing collapse," with shortages of staff, equipment, beds, drugs and blood to treat patients with gunshot wounds.
Two dozen trucks carrying vital equipment, medical supplies and food were stuck at the capital's port, according to the U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP), which said it had suspended its maritime transport service, citing the "insecurity."
Authorities first announced a state of emergency on Sunday after fighting escalated, inmates were broken out of prison by armed gangs, and an estimated tens of thousands were displaced while Prime Minister Ariel Henry was in Kenya, seeking its leadership of an international force intended to fight the gangs.
Henry, who has been in Puerto Rico since Tuesday, spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken by phone yesterday, senior State Department official Brian Nichols said in Washington.
In an "intensive" conversation, Blinken spoke with Henry about "the urgent need to accelerate transition to a broader, more inclusive government," said Nichols.
The prime minister has been apparently unable or unwilling to return to Port-auPrince, where gunfire has broken out around key transport hubs, including the international airport.
The state of emergency in the Ouest Department, the seat of the capital, will be extended to April 3, with a nightly curfew until March 11, according to a declaration in the Caribbean country's official gazette. The government said this was in order to "reestablish order and take appropriate measures to retake control of the situation."
The state of emergency bans all public protests, day and night, and allows security forces to use "all legal means" at their disposal to enforce the curfew and apprehend those who break it, the government said.
In Portau-Prince yesterday, flames licked around a looted food warehouse and burnedout cars lined the streets. With gas stations shuttered, people bought petrol for their vehicles from street vendors with plastic con- tainers.