Attachments
Key Messages
• In the first eight months of 2024, overall mortality estimates* were over twice as high compared to 2023 figures. In Artibonite, they surpassed the WHO emergency threshold. Concerning trends emerged in other regions, including Sud-Est, Ouest, Centre, and Nord. This sharp rise in such a short time signals an acute public health crisis demanding urgent action.
• Non-traumatic drivers, such as chronic and acute illnesses, drove most deaths, exacerbated by extreme violence, insecurity, economic hardship, and climatic shocks. Resulting displacement, damaged infrastructure, and trade disruptions significantly affected access to basic needs and services and eroded the populations’ coping capacity.
This fueled acute food insecurity (for nearly half the population) and malnutrition and facilitated the spread of disease.
• The crisis is expected to deepen in 2025. Critical drivers of mortality in the first eight months of 2024 (violence, floods, displacement) persisted, if not intensified, throughout the second half, and prospects of a solution to end extreme violence are lacking. Acute food insecurity is projected to swell in the coming months, ahead of the typical lean season. Without improved access to basic needs, and under a possible scenario of declined assistance, preventable loss of life will likely continue to manifest among the most vulnerable.
Context & Rationale
Haiti’s complex humanitarian crisis is characterised by insecurity and gang violence on top of years of recurring drought, climate shocks, and economic instability, leaving over 1 million people displaced and an estimated 5.5 million in need of humanitarian assistance. A significant escalation of violence and political turmoil in 2024 further eroded critical services and institutions, including the country’s health system and water infrastructure. These factors contributed to widespread acute food insecurity (affecting 48% of the population) and malnutrition.
REACH has conducted a retrospective mortality survey as part of the 2024 Multi-Sector Needs Assessment (MSNA) to gather critical data on crude and under-five mortality rates and their leading causes. This data aims to guide government and humanitarian actors with resource prioritisation and response planning and to contribute to advocacy efforts for enhanced funding and programmatic action to strengthen Haiti’s health systems and response strategies.
Find the full technical report here.
Using the crude death rate (CDR) and under-five death rate (U5DR) to estimate severity
The CDR and U5DR are measures to estimate the severity of humanitarian crises and/or the effectiveness of public health interventions. Mortality rates can be compared against the global WHO emergency threshold (≥ 1 death per 10,000 people per day, or ≥ 2 deaths per 10,000 children under 5 per day) to determine whether a population faces a critical crisis. A doubling of baseline mortality is another critical indicator used to define acute emergencies, particularly in protracted crises.