Washington —which is accused here of being responsible for the trafficking of arms and ammunition to Haiti— alleges that access to medical care is limited due to gangs attacking hospitals and health centers.
“A medical evacuation is very difficult due to the deteriorating medical infrastructure, ambulance services are difficult to find and of poor quality, especially outside the capital, and patients must cover all costs related to vital emergencies,” states the note published by the online newspaper Haiti Libre.
The US Embassy in Port-au-Prince will not cover medical expenses for its citizens, the statement emphasizes. “Medicare and Medicaid programs do not cover medical expenses abroad, and hospitals and doctors in Haiti do not accept U.S. insurance and generally require full payment before providing care,” the statement emphasized.
The final cost of care is often much higher than initial estimates, and the patient is discharged only after full payment, the statement emphasized.
“The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince urges U.S. citizens to leave Haiti using authorized commercial transportation as soon as they believe it is safe to do so,” the State Department suggested.
“If you are in Haiti, plan to leave the country as soon as safely possible,” the statement emphasized.
Washington, some media outlets point out, is considered here to be responsible for the economic, political, and social chaos in the Caribbean country, which it intervened militarily in 1915 and supposedly abandoned it in 1934.
ef/arc/joe