Fuel shortages in Haiti put lives of children, women at risk, UNICEF warns

ANI
25 Oct 2021, 14:18 GMT+10

Port-au-Prince [Haiti], October 25 (ANI/Sputnik): Hundreds of women and children in Haiti are at risk of dying if the fuel shortage crisis in the country is not resolved, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned.

"With the insecurity that reigns in Port-au-Prince, the lives of many women of childbearing age and newborn babies are in danger because hospitals that should provide them with life-saving care cannot operate normally because of a lack of fuel. They risk dying if the health services cannot provide them with adequate care," UNICEF Deputy Representative for Haiti Raoul de Torcy said in a Sunday statement.

UNICEF said that it has received distress messages from several hospitals in Haiti because they have no fuel to run the generators and ensure the proper functioning of their emergency services.

The lives of 300 children, 45 women in maternity hospitals and 70 other adults, including patients with COVID-19, are in danger because two large hospitals in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince cannot operate normally, according to local media reports cited by UNICEF. More than 150 hospitalized COVID-19 patients who need emergency care are particularly at risk, according to UNICEF.

As a temporary solution, UNICEF has signed a contract with a local company to supply hospitals in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince with fuel (although the supplier was eventually unable to deliver it) and has also helped install more than 900 solar refrigerators in health facilities to keep vaccines in good condition. (ANI/Sputnik)

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