In 2025, the Haitian health system crossed a critical threshold. According to the Secretary General of the Haitian Medical Association (AMH), Dr Jean Ardouin Louis Charles, it is no longer a matter of stagnation, but of a profound and widespread deterioration, marked by the collapse of public hospitals, the technological decline and the inability to provide emergency care, forcing thousands of patients to seek treatment abroad.
Speaking on the microphone of Magik 9, on Saturday, January 3, 2025, Dr Jean Ardouin Louis Charles makes a point without appeal: Haiti no longer has a functional public health system. The existing system has become parallel, dominated by private structures with limited capacity, often oriented more towards accommodation than towards real medical care.
In quantitative terms, the country is experiencing a marked decline in the number of operational health institutions, doctors, specialized services and medical equipment. Several departments find themselves with an extremely limited supply of care, unable to provide minimum coverage, especially in emergency situations. General hospitals, once the pillars of public service with 24/7 availability, are either dysfunctional or out of service.
The quality of care has also collapsed. Technological backwardness is significant compared to countries in the region such as Cuba and the Dominican Republic. The absence of modern technical platforms, proper emergency rooms and sufficient staff leads to preventable deaths, especially for serious cases requiring rapid, neurological or surgical interventions.
In the face of this structural incapacity, the health exodus is intensifying. Many patients are forced to travel abroad, particularly to the Dominican Republic, Quebec or the United States, increasing inequalities in access to care and increasing the vulnerability of the poorest.
For the Secretary-General of AMH, the loss of reference public hospitals and the disappearance of specialized centres are irreversible setbacks in the short term. « It's not a stagnation, it's a deterioration. »he insists, calling for an urgent overhaul of the Haitian health system.
W.A.
