According to Le Nouvelliste, the meeting will discuss issues such as the prevention and treatment of kidney diseases, universal health coverage and mental health, among other topics.

Haiti’s health system remains collapsed due to the impossibility of guaranteeing free access to health care because of the escalation of violence in the nation.

In fact, last year the coalition of gangs with their constant incursions in this capital put at risk the lives of patients who depend on dialysis sessions to stay alive.

Dialysis costs more than 500 thousand gourdes a year (3,787 US dollars) even in public centers, and on top of the fact that it is an unaffordable treatment for many, those who can afford it find it impossible to get to the medical centers due to the crossfire.

In Port-au-Prince the situation has worsened due to the closure of some hospitals, and private hospitals have limited capacity to receive patients seeking care.

Not only those in need of dialysis suffer the effects of violence by criminal gangs, but also those in the program to fight tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.

The chaos prevents work from being accomplished in relation, too, to vaccination campaigns, epidemic control and the prevention of chronic diseases.

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