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New Caledonia (France)

Attacks on Health Care in New Caledonia, 13 and 23 May 2024

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The Island of New Caledonia was shaken by violence between 13 and 23 May 2024 when widespread protests and riots erupted over proposed voting reforms. According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, 32 protests and riots were recorded. All were widely dispersed and reported buildings being set on fire, shops looted and road barricades set up. As in so many conflicts, this violence also affected health care.

Insecurity Insight identified six incidents of violence against or obstruction of health care during protests and riots between 13 and 23 May 2024. All were recorded in the capital Nouméa where a blood donation was vandalised, a medicine warehouse and pharmacy set on fire, and an orthopaedic surgeon injured. Ambulances were obstructed from reaching the capital’s main hospital Territorial Hospital Centre (CHT) Gaston Bourret-Médipôle due to road barricades encircling the building and some staff and discharged patients were forced to sleep at the hospital for their own safety. Patients were advised not to travel to the hospital and family visits were temporarily prohibited.

Dialysis treatments at Hospital Centre of the North in Koné province were temporarily postponed due to insecurity with potentially devastating consequences for patients in need of regular treatment. Violence against health care is frequently an integral part of violent protests that exacerbates the impact of violence by affecting health workers’ ability to provide care and hindering patients from safely accessing care. You can download the data on HDX and explore the incidents visually on this global map.