MSF OPENS NEW EMERGENCY HEALTH CLINIC IN HAITI
(Reuters) - By Julie Mollins
LONDON – Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has opened a new emergency trauma, orthopaedic and visceral surgery referral centre in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, the medical aid charity reported on Tuesday.
The surgical referral centre is the third emergency treatment facility opened by MSF in the capital since a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the country in January 2010.
The quake killed about 300,000 people and left more than 1.5 million homeless.
The 107-bed Nap Kenbe, or Staying Well, centre was completed in February this year to treat trauma related to falls and road accidents, and victims of violence, such as beatings, assaults and bullet wounds.
Its official inauguration will be celebrated on Wednesday in conjunction with Haiti's health ministry.
“MSF is now supporting the Ministry of Public Health and Population with 600 hospital beds in Haiti for emergency care,” said Gaëtan Drossart, MSF’s head of mission in Haiti.
“This is still far from adequate, but is nevertheless an advance.”
It is the fourth emergency treatment facility MSF has opened in Haiti since the quake. After the disaster, the agency launched the biggest emergency operation in its history.
MSF treated more than 30 percent of Haiti’s cholera patients in 2010-2011, according to the agency, which has been working in the country since 1991 responding to crises and natural disasters.
At least 75 percent of Haiti's population lives below the poverty line, according to MSF.
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