19669: (Craig) UN Wire: Medical Facilities Struggling To Operate (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Dan Craig <hoosier@att.net>

U.N. Staff Advised To Stay Home; Medical Facilities Struggling To Operate
March 2, 2004 (excerpt)

The United Nations advised its staff members in Haiti to stay at home
for their own safety amid the chaos in Port-au-Prince.  U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan said yesterday that the world body is preparing to
increase relief efforts by finalizing an inter-agency humanitarian
appeal.  U.N. humanitarian agencies are ready to distribute food, water,
sanitation and medical supplies as soon as the security situation
improves, said U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard (U.N. release
<http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=9938&Cr=Haiti&Cr1=>, March 1).

Most of Haiti's hospitals in Port-au-Prince have ceased operations due
to a shortage of electricity and water, the Pan American Health
Organization said yesterday.

There are eight hospitals in Port-au-Prince, all of which have been
unable to take care of patients.  According to Jean-Luc Poncelet, head
of PAHO's Program on Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief, several
shipments of medical supplies, including surgical kits, essential
medicines and vaccines, have been put on hold due to looting at
Port-au-Prince's port and airport.

PAHO has set up an emergency center at its Washington headquarters to
coordinate relief efforts with the 12 officials currently on the ground
in Haiti.  Working in what they call an atmosphere of tension and fear,
PAHO officials have asked that all parties in the Haitian conflict
respect the neutrality of hospitals and medical centers (PAHO release
<http://www.paho.org/English/DD/PIN/pr040301a.htm>, March 1)