Sunday, December 19, 2010

ARTICLE - RIOTS TOLL UNDERVALUED

HAITI - ELECTIONS: RIOTS TOLL, SIGNIFICANTLY UNDERVALUED
(HaitiLibre.com)

While the assessment of post-electoral riots, according to the media, five dead and thirty wounded, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) delivers us the results of its own interventions. An assessment which reveals that the situation was much worse than what has been reported.

During the violence that hit Port-au-Prince and several cities between December 7 and 12, MSF supported 96 wounded, including 38 with gunshot wounds. Four people have died from their injuries. MSF had at its disposal surgical and medical teams in six facilities in Port-au-Prince and two in the region, ready to treat possible injuries. Despite the insecurity, MSF teams have managed to ensure continuity of medical activities, including the response to the cholera epidemic and to care for those injured in the violence.

MSF is not the only NGO to have medical facilities to treat wounded across the country. It is feared that the total of the riots, which will probably never be known, could be even higher.

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