Haitian conflict poses health and hunger threat

As opposition fighters threaten to attack Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, ActionAid warns that the city’s food supplies and health services are under increasing strain.

Food prices have already risen, with supplies from the north of the country now cut off. Fighting on the streets of Port-au-Prince will further threaten the majority of the city's people who live in poverty and make their living on the streets as day labourers, selling food, water and other goods.

ActionAid’s regional director for the Americas, Adriano Campolina Soares said: "If adults are not on the street for one day, their families are in trouble. They do not have cash to buy food to store in their houses. That is the reality for about 75 per cent of the people in Port-au-Prince."

Only one hospital, a private one, is now open in Port-au-Prince. The state hospital is closed because of lack of supplies. If fighting causes substantial casualties, the health services may not be able to cope.

There is an urgent need for sufficient resources to re-open the state hospital and to strengthen local health centres in poor areas of the city. Clinics can then treat any casualties on the spot without referring them to over-stretched hospitals.

ActionAid also reports that outside the cities, poor farmers are already experiencing problems, as March to April is the planting season for cereals and root crops.

"We’ve already seen that farmers in the north-west are unable to travel to the towns to buy seed. If they cannot travel, they will be short of seed very soon," said Mr Campolina.