Isabelle Mouniaman
Director of Operations
Following the earthquake on a Saturday, MSF staff went quite quickly from Port-au-Prince to the south as a surgical team, logisticians and doctors. And they first arrived at Les Cayes before reaching Jérémie.
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake
hit southern Haiti on
August 14, 2021





Very quickly, we focused on taking care of the wounded, with surgery, both in Jérémie and in Les Cayes. While the surgical teams worked at the hospital, the other teams continued to search the southern provinces, reaching villages that were known to be isolated: Pestel or Corail, for example. They even went to the coastal islands, the Cayemites...
MSF teams intervened in support of the local health system




Today, we know there were officially 2,200 dead and heavily injured people who received care locally. But some had to be evacuated very quickly to Port-au-Prince, such as to the Tabarre hospital, where MSF works. About fifty patients have been transferred there.
It is estimated that there have been around 400 to 450 seriously injured people who required surgical management. MSF treated around 200.
MSF was able to rely on
its surgical teams
already present in Haiti




The earthquake survivors treated by MSF teams needed very specific surgical care. There were many open fractures, which needed emergency surgery.
This meant very rapid orthopedic care, to stabilize the fractures. Some were transferred to Port-au-Prince, but a large majority received care in the South.
Teams specializing in postoperative care joined the emergency response




Today, roughly 6 weeks after the earthquake, we are still present in Les Cayes hospital where MSF is working on around 70 hospital beds. The teams are also present in Jérémie.
We estimate that we will stay until November, in order to provide postoperative care for the patients. So today we have physiotherapy teams who came to lend a hand to the teams on site, so patients do not need to go to Port-au-Prince for treatment.
The security situation
in Port-au-Prince has deteriorated, which complicates the work of MSF teams




I think that one of the big issues was transport, since to reach Les Cayes or Jérémie, by land, you have to go through the Martissant area. This area has been the victim of gang warfare and is known to be extremely volatile and very complicated to navigate from a security point of view.
So the route is either by road or by air. But it took some time to get access to planes or helicopters.
MSF has worked in Haiti for 30 years, responding to chronic and emergency needs.