Haiti: A State of Collapse--June 2021

Photo by John Carroll

See this tweet yesterday from Jacquie Charles of the Miami Herald --

"Is it just me or does it feel like everything is collapsing in #Haiti: blocked ambulances; saturated Covid treatment centers; fleeing Haitians; gang conflict; cut internet fibers, blocked roads ...mass concert amid a pandemic & no one shuts them down. And this is just this week!"

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Chaos reigns in Port au Prince.

Many lives are affected by this in one way or another. Some people are cut off from water. Others from the market. Others from family and friends who need them.

Chaos is so destructive behind the scenes. Lack of order hurts.

I am attempting to stop a blood thinner and start a new blood thinner on a heart patient of mine in Port au Prince. This can be a hard thing to safely accomplish in the United States. And in Haiti under the best of circumstances, it is very difficult to do safely.

My patient and I had a plan for how she would get her blood tested on a home monitor of another patient of mine in the capital. The results of this test would tell me if her blood is too thick or too thin with the new medication. But because the city is so dangerous now, she is afraid to cross the city to test her blood this weekend. So I am "blindly" telling her how much of the new blood thinner to take without having labs to guide me.

And this is not safe.

John A. Carroll, MD

www.haitianhearts.org

Addendum:

See this article. Explains why it is difficult for my patient to access her labs.