MSF AUSTRALIA | HAITI 2017

Droulliard is the only specialised centre in Haiti to focus on the treatment of severe burns.

In Haiti, where quality healthcare is unaffordable for the majority, Médecins Sans Frontières provides free, specialised medical care to burns patients.

In the capital Port-au-Prince, Médecins Sans Frontières is working in Drouillard hospital, close to Cité Soleil slum. Drouillard is the only specialised centre in the country to focus on the treatment of severe burns – a widespread problem mostly linked to the dire living conditions of destitute Haitians. Around half the patients are children under the age of five who have been injured in domestic accidents. In 2017, the team conducted more than 1,300 emergency room consultations and admitted almost 700 patients. Treatment included surgery, dressings and pain management, as well as physiotherapy, psychological care and infection control. In one innovative technique, patients were treated with grafts of artificial skin. Most patients came from the Port-au-Prince area, but some were referred from other regions by air ambulance. Médecins Sans Frontières also trained medical staff and started constructing a new 40-bed hospital to replace the existing temporary facility in 2018.