Imperatives for Action and Impact of Humanitarian Crises Affecting Children: The Case of Haiti-Lessons and the Way Forward.

Haiti's ongoing humanitarian catastrophe has had a devastating impact on the Haitian health care sector that has yet to be fully quantified. The history of this small island nation in the Caribbean-the first, in 1804, to abolish slavery and obtain independence from France-has been tumultuous since its inception. A chaotic succession of coups d'état, dictatorial regimes, and international interventions and occupations, coupled with harmful economic and development policies from former colonial powers and allies, has led to political and economic fragility over the course of Haiti's maturation as a sovereign state.