Ten days after the floods that hit the city of Gonaives, west of Haiti, the population is in great need of humanitarian aid. There is a need for food, drinking water, shelter and medical help. The MSF health centre in Raboteau is virtually the only medical facility operational in the centre of the city. It is now giving some 120 consultations a day.

"A lot of people fled the city. They went either to Port-au-Prince, or joined relatives outside the disaster area", said Silvien Auerbach, MSF head of mission in Haiti. "The current population of Gonaives can be estimated to some 70,000 inhabitants, when it used to be 108,000. There are over 2,000 dead and close to 2,600 people wounded, but these figures need to be confirmed".

The MSF health centre in Raboteau is now fully up and running, with a team of 15, including five expatriates (a doctor, nurse, psychologist, logistician and field coordinator).

Some 120 consultations are being done per day, and this number is likely to increase.

"Almost half of our patients suffer from cut wounds", said Auerbach. "But there are also cases of depression, skin disease, and diahrea. And there is a high risk of malaria and waterborne diseases".