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Haiti Health System Nears Collapse As Medicine Dwindles, Gangs Attack Hospitals And Ports Stay Shut

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The city of Port-au-Prince in Haiti is the subject of this news article. During a recent morning in a hospital located in the center of gang-infested territory in Haiti’s capital, a woman experienced convulsions followed by a loss of consciousness, prompting a doctor and two nurses to swiftly intervene in an attempt to save her.

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Haiti Health System Nears Collapse As Medicine Dwindles, Gangs Attack Hospitals And Ports Stay Shut

Electrodes were attached to her chest and an oxygen machine was activated, while the observers monitored a computer screen displaying a critically low oxygen level of 84%.

The cause of her ailment remained unknown to everyone.

Additionally, there is a severe lack of crucial medications used to treat seizures at the Doctors Without Borders hospital in the Cite Soleil slum.

“We have a severe shortage of the medication that she urgently requires,” stated Dr. Rachel Lavigne, a physician affiliated with the medical aid organization.

Every day, at hospitals and clinics throughout Port-au-Prince, a similar situation unfolds. Vital medication and equipment are becoming scarce or completely unavailable due to the increasing control of ruthless gangs over the capital and surrounding areas. They have obstructed roadways, compelled the early closure of the primary international airport in March, and halted operations at the nation’s largest seaport, where containers containing essential supplies are still immobile.

“All systems are experiencing a complete failure,” Lavigne stated.

The health system in Haiti has historically been vulnerable, but it is currently on the verge of complete collapse following the coordinated assaults by gangs on February 29th, which specifically targeted essential facilities in the capital and surrounding areas.

Due to the violence, numerous medical institutions and dialysis clinics, including Haiti’s primary public hospital, have been compelled to shut down. Situated in the heart of Port-au-Prince, the Hospital of the State University of Haiti was scheduled to resume operations on April 1 following its closure during the onset of the onslaught. However, there has been a compromise of the facility due to gang infiltration.

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Haiti Health System Nears Collapse As Medicine Dwindles, Gangs Attack Hospitals And Ports Stay Shut

An escalating state of disorder has resulted in an increasing number of individuals suffering from cancer, AIDS, and other severe diseases being left without any viable options for treatment. Additionally, criminal gangs have been pillaging and setting ablaze pharmacies located in the central district of the capital city.

Doctors Without Borders has depleted its supply of certain pharmaceuticals often used to treat diabetes, high blood pressure, and asthma. Additionally, Lavigne reported that asthma inhalers, which are essential for preventing life-threatening attacks, are currently unavailable in the capital.

According to her, the medical personnel at the Doctors Without Borders facility made an attempt to rescue a youngster suffering from a severe asthma attack by administering oxygen. The previous treatment was ineffective, as was an alternative medicine. Ultimately, they administered him with adrenaline, a medication employed in critical situations to manage anaphylactic shock.

“We engage in improvisation and exert our utmost effort for the individuals present,” Lavigne stated.

Doctors Without Borders project coordinator Jacob Burns cautioned that the unavailability of regular medicines for chronic diseases is causing a decline in people’s health.

“The situation worsens and they exhaust all available alternatives,” he stated. Currently, there is a limited range of choices available to specific individuals.

Due to the urgent demand for medical assistance, the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Cite Soleil has been compelled to reduce the daily number of outpatients it attends to from 150 to 50, as stated by Burns. However, all emergency cases are still promptly addressed.

Every day, numerous individuals queue outside the hospital, exposing themselves to the danger of being shot by gang members who dominate the vicinity, all in anticipation of receiving medical attention.

Access to the hospital compound is granted to all individuals, however, the medical personnel have established a triage system to ascertain which 50 individuals will receive medical attention. Burns requested that individuals with less pressing need come back on a different day.

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Haiti Health System Nears Collapse As Medicine Dwindles, Gangs Attack Hospitals And Ports Stay Shut

On Friday morning, a 51-year-old individual named Jean Marc Baptiste entered the emergency room with a blood-soaked bandage wrapped over his right hand. He claimed that the day before, while he was gathering firewood to sell as kindling in an area where criminal organizations predominate, law enforcement officers in a heavily protected vehicle fired at him.

Upon entering, the staff proceeded to remove the bandage, exposing a significant laceration on his thumb, causing him to cry out in agony. Lavigne advised him to seek the services of a plastic surgeon, which the hospital lacks, and requested X-rays to confirm the absence of a fracture.

SOURCE – (AP)

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Canadian Man Arrested for TikTok Video That Threatened Trudeau

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Andrew Marshall TikTok video
Marshall is facing two counts of uttering threats - CBC Image

A TikTok video that went live earlier this week has led to a Toronto man facing charges of threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. Andrew Marshall, 61, is facing two counts of uttering threats.

On Friday afternoon, the Ontario Court of Justice granted him bail with a surety and restrictions after the RCMP charged him on Wednesday.

Following Monday’s upload to TikTok, CBC Toronto conducted its own independent investigation of the video. Marshall vehemently opposes what he perceives as restrictions on free expression in Canada in it.

“I get them taken down all the time— I make videos — or all my comments, that are just simple comments,” Marsh says in the TikTok. “It’s just getting ridiculous, Marshall said.”

According to the CBC more and more people are threatening politicians. The commissioner of the RCMP has hinted that further measures may be necessary to ensure their safety.

In the TikTok video, Marshall explains in great detail how he would brutally assassinate Trudeau and Freeland “if it was up to him.”

Marshall attacks multiple groups throughout the roughly 11-minute TikTok video, including the media, Muslims, migrants, and the police who defend the government.

Among Marshall’s bail terms are the following: he must not communicate with Trudeau or Freeland; he must not use the internet to make social media posts or comments; he must not own any weapons; and he must not apply for a firearms permit.

During the bail hearing, the prosecution provided all of the evidence that is often not published.

Nate Jackson, Marshall’s attorney, stressed his client’s liberties and privileges as a Canadian in an email message.

“He has the right to freedom of speech, the right to reasonable bail and the right to a fair trial,” he said. “Having secured his release from custody, we will continue to defend Mr. Marshall’s Charter rights as his case proceeds.”

Neither Freeland’s nor the prime minister’s office would comment on the allegations, according to the CBC.

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Canada’s Unemployment Rate Hits its Highest Point Since 2017

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Canada's Unemployment Rate
Canada's unemployment rate rose to 6.6 per cent in August - FIle Image

As the job market remains dismal, the national unemployment rate in Canada has risen to its highest point since 2017. This has led some analysts to question whether the Bank of Canada should be reducing interest rates more quickly.

In spite of a net gain of 22,000 jobs, Statistics Canada reported on Friday that the unemployment rate increased to 6.6% from 6.4% the previous month. The rise was due to an uptick in part-time employment and a fall in full-time employment.

Outside of the pandemic years, the national unemployment rate has reached its highest position since May 2017, according to StatCan.

Rapid population expansion in Canada has increased the overall labour pool, but the country’s unemployment rate has persisted in rising.

The summer job market was especially tough for students, according to StatCan. Not including the pandemic, the unemployment rate among students going back to school in the autumn was 16.7 percent, which is the highest level since 2012.

Canada Unemployment August 2024

Two days after the Bank of Canada dropped interest rates for the third time in a row, reducing borrowing costs to alleviate economic pressure, the most recent reading of the Canadian job market follows suit.

According to TD Bank economist Leslie Preston, who wrote a note on Friday, the central bank is “giving the OK” to keep dropping rates due to the bad August jobs report. Preston predicts two more quarter-point decreases at the remaining decisions this year.

According to CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham, there are indications that the labour market is quickly contracting more than initially thought, since the unemployment rate is nearly two percentage points greater than the record low of 4.9% in June 2022.

“Due to this, we believe the Bank should be contemplating a quicker rate of reductions in order to bring interest rates to less restrictive levels,” he informed clients in a letter on Friday morning.

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US Job Growth Falls Short of Expectations: Economy Struggles Under High Interest Rates

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US Job Growth Falls Short of Expectations: Economy Struggles Under High Interest Rates

Last month, job growth in the United States was weaker than predicted, prompting concerns that the world’s largest economy is beginning to struggle under the weight of increased interest rates.

The Labour Department said that employers added 142,000 jobs in August, which was less than the nearly 160,000 economists predicted. It also stated that job gains over the preceding two months were weaker than expected.

However, the jobless rate went down to 4.2%, down from 4.3% in July.

The report is one of the most important indicators of the US economy and arrives at a vital time, as voters consider presidential candidates for the November election and the US central bank contemplates its first interest rate decrease in four years.

Analysts said the latest statistics kept the Federal Reserve on pace for a rate drop at its meeting this month, but did little to answer worries about the trajectory of the US economy or how much of a cut it should make.

“There has rarely been such a make-or-break number; unfortunately, today’s jobs report does not completely resolve the recession debate,” said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management.

Soaring prices in 2022 caused the Federal Reserve to hike its key lending rate to 5.3%, a nearly 20-year high.

Faced with increased borrowing costs for homes, vehicles, and other debt, the economy has slowed, helping to alleviate pressures that were boosting inflation but exacerbating market concerns.

As inflation has fallen to 2.9% in July, the Fed is under pressure to decrease interest rates to prevent additional economic deceleration.

Although job increases in August fell short of expectations, they were greater than in July, when a slowdown aroused anxieties and triggered several days of stock market volatility.

Last month, construction and health-care firms hired the most, while manufacturing and retailers laid off employees.

Ms Shah stated that the data in Friday’s report was mixed, but provided enough concerning indicators that the Fed should make a larger cut.

“On balance, with inflation pressures subdued, there is no reason for the Fed not to err on the side of caution and frontload rate cuts,” she told reporters.

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Others, however, felt the advances were just steady enough to warrant a 0.25 percentage point decrease, as markets had long projected – though this could signal more cuts than expected in the coming months.

Paul Ashworth, Capital Economics’ senior North America economist, predicted that the Fed’s decision will be “close run.”

“The labour market is clearly experiencing a marked slowdown,” he said, adding that the new statistics were “overall still consistent with an economy experiencing a soft landing rather than plummeting into recession”.

Concerns about the economy are a major issue in the US election.

According to polls, a majority of Americans feel the US is in a recession, despite healthy 2.5% growth last year.

Donald Trump has declared that the economy is headed for a “crash,” and his team instantly latched on the latest data to criticise Vice President Kamala Harris, publishing a press release titled “warning lights flash as Kamala’s economy continues to weaken.”

Democrats have defended their performance, claiming that the United States survived the pandemic and inflation better than many other countries.

They believe the slowdown is a sign that the economy is returning to a more sustainable rate of growth following the post-pandemic boom.

“Although hiring has slowed, the US job market continues to generate solid job gains and wage growth that is consistently beating inflation,” the White House Council of Economic Advisors stated in a blog.

 

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