Haiti: Violence Against Health Care in Conflict 2025

HAITI Violence Against Health Care in Conflict 2025 Insecurity Insight Data on People in Danger Haiti REPORTED INCIDENTS AND MOST COMMONLY REPORTED CONCERNS REPORTED INCIDENTS INCIDENTS WHERE HEALTH FACILITIES WERE ATTACKED HEALTH WORKERS KILLED HEALTH WORKERS KIDNAPPED 23 13 5 15 42 25 3 4 42 16 1 33 2025 2024 2023 Source: Insecurity Insight for the SHCC. OVERVIEW Using data collected by Insecurity Insight, the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC) identified 23 incidents of violence against or obstruction of health care in Haiti in 2025, compared to 42 incidents in both 2024 and 2023.1 Among incidents reported in 2025, 15 health workers were kidnapped and five killed, while health facilities were attacked on 13 occasions. The actual number of incidents and the severity of the problem are likely greater, because attacks on health care may not have been reported in some locations and conflict-related service closures may not have been reflected in the data, while cuts to United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funding further reduced the presence of health care providers and the operation of health facilities. Methodology and sources Information on incidents of violence against health care in Haiti is compiled from open sources, information projects, aid agency data-sharing mechanisms, and private sources. Data is continuously updated and numbers may change if new information is made publicly available. For the latest available figures, see Insecurity Insight’s global map on attacks on health care. See Methodology for further information. CARE IN THE CROSSHAIRS: VIOLENCE AGAINST HEALTH CARE IN CONFLICT | 2025 2 Haiti THE CONTEXT Organized armed violence involving gangs such as the 400 Mawozo, Base 5 Secondes, Ti Bwa, Taliban gang and Vithelomme Innocent continued across Haiti in 2025. Armed groups exercised territorial control over 90% of Port-au-Prince and key transport routes, while expanding their activities into other regions, further disrupting already-scarce essential health care and basic social services. Haiti’s political institutions remained largely non-functional. It has been a decade since the country last held national elections. The country has lacked a functioning parliament since 2019, and has had no elected officials at the national level since January 2023, when the mandates of the remaining senators expired. In September 2025, the UN Security Council approved the creation of the Gang Suppression Force (GSF), an international security mission intended to build on the prior Multinational Security Support mission and assist efforts in Haiti to address organized armed violence. More than 8,100 people were reported killed between January and November 2025, reflecting sustained levels of organized armed violence affecting civilians and infrastructure. Armed gangs maintained their control over transportation corridors, disrupting livelihoods, movement and humanitarian access across the country. Displacement, restrictions on communications and fear of retribution from gangs affected the reporting environment. Power outages, unstable telecommunications networks, and attacks on radio stations disrupted communications and limited access to information used by communities and humanitarian organizations. Humanitarian conditions remained severe, and more than half of Haiti’s population required humanitarian assistance. By early 2025, 1.4 million people were internally displaced, representing roughly one-tenth of the population, with women and girls comprising 55% of displaced people. In total, 5.7 million people – more than half the country’s population – were also experiencing food insecurity. Extreme weather events, including hurricanes, floods, and droughts, continued to affect vulnerable communities. The continued closure of the country’s primary airport further complicated assistance efforts. Cuts to USAID funding forced the suspension of key health programs like HIV prevention services and jeopardized years of progress in local clinical care, leaving many communities with reduced access to routine treatment and preventive care. Rampant sexual violence by gangs has led to an increased reported incidence of sexually transmitted infections. Cholera outbreaks were reported in several departments, with risks heightened in overcrowded displacement sites and areas with limited access to clean water and sanitation facilities. VIOLENCE AGAINST OR OBSTRUCTION OF HEALTH CARE IN 2025 In 2025, reported incidents of violence against or obstruction of health care attributed to organized armed gangs declined overall, but rose in Port-au-Prince, reflecting continued instability and the concentration of cases in Ouest department, as recorded in previous years. Incidents decreased in Arbonite department, while incidents were also recorded in Nord-Ouest department. Most incidents were attributed to unidentified armed men, reflecting attribution challenges due to fragmented and changing gang networks. Well-established gangs, including 400 Mawozo, Base 5 Secondes, Ti Bwa, Taliban gang and Vithelomme Innocent, were implicated in some cases.2 CARE IN THE CROSSHAIRS: VIOLENCE AGAINST HEALTH CARE IN CONFLICT | 2025 3 Haiti Source: Insecurity Insight for the SHCC. In 2025, health worker kidnappings surged and health facilities continued to be attacked. Reports of targeted health worker killings persisted, while patients in hospitals were also targeted. The majority of cases affected health care providers working for national health structures, with six incidents affecting an NGO and two a UN agency.3 Health facilities attacked Clinics and hospitals in Haiti were repeatedly attacked, looted, deliberately set on fire or obstructed by armed gangs in 2025, particularly in Port-au-Prince and surrounding communes. Armed groups opened fire on health facilities and aid convoys, erected barricades, vandalized infrastructure, stole medical equipment and ambulances, and in some cases forced hospitals to suspend their services or evacuate staff. Major facilities affected included the Albert Schweitzer Hospital and Mirebalais University Hospital, while parts of the State University Hospital of Haiti were set on fire. Staff were also kidnapped, and stray gunfire and nearby clashes further endangered patients and staff. Health workers killed and kidnapped Five health workers were killed in five incidents in 2025, compared to three in three incidents in 2024 and one in 2023. Some staff were killed in targeted shootings, often at close range, by gunmen while leaving work, traveling home or driving. In two separate health worker killings in Delmas commune, the victims were killed during an attempted kidnapping.4 One doctor was stabbed several times and killed by unidentified individuals who entered her family home at night.5 In 2025, 15 health workers were kidnapped in four incidents in 2025, compared to four in four incidents in 2024 and 33 in 27 incidents in 2023. Health workers were kidnapped by gunmen in or around major urban centers in Ouest department’s Port-au-Prince arrondissement, where gangs exert territorial control. Two mass kidnappings were recorded, with seven health workers abducted in one incident and six in another.6 Eight kidnapped health workers were released. The fates of seven abducted INGO staff members who were intercepted near the US embassy while trying to avoid traffic congestion and kidnapped by an armed group affiliated with the Vithelomme Innocent gang were not recorded. Some kidnapped health workers CARE IN THE CROSSHAIRS: VIOLENCE AGAINST HEALTH CARE IN CONFLICT | 2025 4 Haiti were harmed to coerce the payment of ransoms, including a doctor abducted from her home by armed individuals who was tortured and burned before her release.7 This chapter is based on 2023-2025 HTI SHCC Health Care Data. Download this data on the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX). Insecurity Insight updates data continuously and numbers may change if new information is made publicly available. For the latest available figures, see Insecurity Insight’s global map on attacks on health care. THE IMPACT OF ATTACKS ON HEALTH CARE Haiti’s health care system remained fragile in 2025, with insecurity, limited infrastructure and resource shortages constraining access to health services for large parts of the population. Insecurity disrupted the functioning of health facilities, particularly in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. The Ministry of Public Health and Population estimated that around 40% of inpatient facilities had closed nationally due to insecurity or looting, while between 60% and 80% of health facilities in Port-au-Prince were reported to be closed or non-functional because of violence, looting, supply disruptions, and the departure of medical staff. The Hôpital Universitaire d’État d’Haïti, the country’s main public hospital, remained closed, leaving the Hôpital Universitaire de la Paix as the only public hospital in the capital able to manage large numbers of severely injured patients. Some health centers were adapting to this difficult situation by decentralizing services to community outposts to maintain care for patients who could not travel to the capital’s main metropolitan area due to the risk of violence. Movement restrictions and insecurity also limited access to the few remaining services. Residents in neighborhoods controlled by armed groups often avoided traveling to health facilities outside their communities due to fears of violence. Limited access to health care affected the treatment of serious illnesses and the continuity of care. Access to maternal health services remained constrained in several areas, with some pregnant women having to travel long distances to reach facilities. The concentration of services in a small number of operational facilities increased pressure on them, particularly trauma hospitals and emergency departments receiving patients injured in violent incidents. Insecurity and limited employment opportunities also contributed to the migration of medical professionals, reducing the availability of qualified health workers in several regions. CARE IN THE CROSSHAIRS: VIOLENCE AGAINST HEALTH CARE IN CONFLICT | 2025 5 Haiti 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The SHCC’s 2024 Annual Report cited 39 incidents of violence against or obstruction of health care in Haiti in 2024 and 42 in 2023. Data is continuously updated and numbers can change if new information is made publicly available. Insecurity Insight. Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition 2025 Report Dataset: 2023-2025 HTI SHCC Health Care Data. Incident numbers 117515; 119268; 119269; 119270; 122306; 113131. Insecurity Insight. Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition 2025 Report Dataset: 2023-2025 HTI SHCC Health Care Data. Incident numbers 95380; 96379; 113131; 116637; 117515; 122301; 115821; 120415 Insecurity Insight. Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition 2025 Report Dataset: 2023-2025 HTI SHCC Health Care Data. Incident numbers 96372; 120415. Insecurity Insight. Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition 2025 Report Dataset: 2023-2025 HTI SHCC Health Care Data. Incident number 100259. Insecurity Insight. Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition 2025 Report Dataset: 2023-2025 HTI SHCC Health Care Data. Incident numbers 113131; 115821. Insecurity Insight. Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition 2025 Report Dataset: 2023-2025 HTI SHCC Health Care Data. Incident number 88275. CARE IN THE CROSSHAIRS: VIOLENCE AGAINST HEALTH CARE IN CONFLICT | 2025 6 The Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition is a group of more than 40 organizations working to protect health workers and services threatened by war or civil unrest. We have raised awareness of global attacks on health and pressed United Nations agencies for greater global action to protect the security of health care. We monitor attacks, strengthen universal norms of respect for the right to health, and demand accountability for perpetrators. Suggested citation: Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalititon (SHCC) 2026. Care in the Crosshairs: Violence Against Health Care in Conflict, May 2026. https://shcc.pub/SHCCAnnualReport2025 https://safeguarding-health.com Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition 615 N. Wolfe Street, E7143, Baltimore, MD 21205 SHCC administrator, safeguardinghcc@gmail.com 7