(2025-09) Haiti: Violence Against Health Care in Conflict 2024
Summary — Haiti country factsheet from the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition's annual 'Epidemic of Violence' report, compiled by Insecurity Insight. The SHCC identified 39 incidents of violence against or obstruction of health care in Haiti in 2024, in which three health workers were killed, four were kidnapped and health facilities were attacked on 20 occasions, double the 2023 count, as gang violence pushed the health system toward collapse.
Key Findings
- The SHCC identified 39 incidents of violence against or obstruction of health care in Haiti in 2024, compared with 42 in 2023 and 33 in 2022.
- Health facilities were attacked on at least 20 occasions in 2024, double the 2023 figure, with hospitals looted, ransacked and in some cases seized as bases, including the State University Hospital of Haiti.
- Three health workers were killed in targeted shootings in 2024 and four were kidnapped for ransom, down sharply from 33 kidnappings in 2023.
- Almost 40 percent of health facilities in Port-au-Prince have been forced to close and around 40 percent of health care providers have fled the country.
- Pregnant and postpartum women are reportedly fleeing to the Dominican Republic to access maternal health care as the system nears collapse.
Full Description
This factsheet, the Haiti chapter of the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition's 2024 global report on violence against health care, draws on the 2022-2024 HTI SHCC Health Care Data compiled by Insecurity Insight from open sources, information projects, aid agency data-sharing mechanisms and private sources. The SHCC identified 39 incidents in 2024 (42 in 2023, 33 in 2022). Health facilities were attacked on at least 20 occasions, up from 10 in 2023 and three in 2022: clinics and hospitals were robbed of supplies, ransacked, and in some cases used as battlegrounds or bases, notably the State University Hospital of Haiti, stormed in April 2024 and severely damaged by the time police regained control in July. Three health workers were killed in targeted shootings (one each in 2022 and 2023) and four were kidnapped for ransom, a sharp decline from 33 kidnappings in 2023. Most attacks occurred in Ouest department, with rising incidents in Artibonite's Saint-Marc arrondissement and new ones in Nippes; gangs including 5 Segond, Gran Grif, G9, Kokorat San Ras and Viv Ansanm were implicated in some cases, and Haitian police were also reported arresting patients inside hospitals. The factsheet situates these attacks in a context of over 5 000 killings and one million internally displaced people in 2024, and documents system-level impact: almost 40 percent of Port-au-Prince health facilities closed, around 40 percent of health care providers having fled the country, and pregnant women crossing to the Dominican Republic for maternal care.
Notes
annual violence-against-healthcare report