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Haiti: the struggle for hospital care

By Channel 4 News

Updated on 15 January 2010

Many of Haiti's hospitals were flattened by the quake, so for the injured it is a struggle to get treatment. The hospitals that remain are overcrowded and running out of supplies.

The courtyard of Port-au-Prince's main hospital has become a makeshift ward. Babies with broken arms are treated in the open and spend nights outside.

Manager Guy LaRoche admits the General Hospital is struggling to cope. As well as a shortage of beds, the centre is missing most of its doctors.

"Usually we have 150 doctors for the hospital, now I don't have 20 - I don't have 20 doctors now," he said.

LaRoche said many of the hospital's staff were simply too busy treating their own families at home to come in. "Everything is wrong now," he said. "You know, we have nothing."

Eight hospitals in Port-au-Prince have been severely damaged. Many of the wounded remain untreated. Aid agencies are concerned about the spread of infection and the outbreak of disease.

Haitian President Rene Preval expressed his sorrow at the state of his nation. "I am very sad because a lot of people died, a lot of people are suffering and I am very sad because my country is in great difficulty."

Despite a popular perception, outbreaks of cholera and other diseases are not common after disasters.

"The health risks are always there but dead bodies do not spread disease," says Paul Sherlock who is Oxfam's Senior Humanitarian Representative.

"Hygiene is the most important thing right now. Everybody is covered in dust, everybody is filthy. That is the basis of bad health. Washing is crucial. The trouble is there isn't much water around."

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