Health

d5tid: 
8

Renowned Haitian Expert on Infectious Diseases tapped by WHO for New Science Council

  • Posted on: 3 April 2021
  • By: Bryan Schaaf

In these increasingly chaotic times it is good to be reminded of the work being done by Haiti's heroes - and Dr. Jean William "Bill" Pape is one of them.  Dr. Pape, one of the country's leaders in preventing and responding to infectious diseases, will be one of nine people around the world tapped by the World Health Organisation to provide guidance to its director.  It is an honor for him, and honor for Haiti, and a reminder that progress is possible in spite of political instability.  You can learn more about his work to date by visiting the GHESKIO website and the full article by Miami Herald journalist Jacqueline Charles follows. 

Haiti Has Cut Malaria Cases in Half Since 2010

  • Posted on: 5 November 2020
  • By: Bryan Schaaf

Weak governance and political instability continues to hinder progress in Haiti, but it is important to highlight what is working.  For example, Haiti has cut malaria cases in half from 2010 by working with a range of international and national partners including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria, the World Health Organisation, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the CDC Foundation, and the Carter Center.  This is welcome news, especially for pregnant women and children under five who are most vulnerable.  An update from the Haitian Minister of Health Marie Greta Roy Clement in the Miami Herald follows. 

US Steps Up Deportation Flights to Haiti

  • Posted on: 30 October 2020
  • By: Bryan Schaaf

In the week leading up to the election, the Trump Administration has scaled up deportation flights to Haiti.  Many were deported while they asylum cases were pending using a 1944 public health law, thereby sidestepping legal obligations to give asylum seekers a fair hearing.  The 1944 law allows for emergency measures to prevent the introduction of communicable diseases.  The reality is that the United States is the country most affected by COVID-19 and is placing Haiti at risk by deporting people who may be infected.  Haiti's political instability and poor health care system leave it under-prepared to respond to a significant increase in cases.  COVID-19 continues to be a tool for the Trump Administration to block asylum to the maximum extent possible - even for those already here.  The full article by the Guaridan's Julian Borger follows. 

Cholera Arrived 10 Years Ago. Victims are Still Waiting for Compensation

  • Posted on: 25 October 2020
  • By: Bryan Schaaf

More than 850,000 Haitians have been infected with Cholera and 10,000 have died from it since being introduced by United Nations (UN) peacekeepers ten years ago.  There has been no compensation provided by the UN and its member states.  When the United Nations accepts no accountability for actions, it its less able to demand accountability from others.  While the UN has at times been benefical to Haiti, its unwillingess to right the wrongs of its peacekeeping forces, from sexual abuse and exploitation to cholera, undermine these efforts. The full article by Miami Herald journalist Jacqueline Charles follows.  

Haitian Mental Health Needs Increase Yet Again Due to COVID-19

  • Posted on: 18 July 2020
  • By: Bryan Schaaf

Haiti’s investment in health has dropped from 16.6 percent in 2004 to 4.4 percent in 2017 despite everything its people have been through since then - unrest, cholera, natural disasters, the earthquake, COVID-19, gender-based violence, and grinding poverty.  Opportunities to consult formally trained mental health workers rmeain rare.  For a country of nearly 11 million, Haiti also only has 23 psychiatrists and 124 psychologists.  Some alternatives, such as hotlines, are beginning to emerge in response.  Linked and below is an article by Jessica Obert in the New Humanitarian about the mental health situation in Haiti.  

Coronavirus Outbreaks at Border Put Haitian Migrants at Risk

  • Posted on: 18 June 2020
  • By: Bryan Schaaf

Haitians have long worked in the Dominican Republic due to the lack of opportunities at home.  With the Dominican economy contracting due to the pandemic, many Haitian migrants are returning home.  The World Health Organisation's western hemisphere branch (Pan American Health Organisation) has established screening and quarantine centers at border crossings in the region but with 269 informal crossing points and only four formal crossing points ensuring the health needs of returning migrants is a daunting task - especially when they fear their own communities may stigmatise them.  The full article by New York Time journalist David Waldstein follows. 

 

Prayer and Preparation: How One Haiti Hospital is Confronting COVID-19

  • Posted on: 20 May 2020
  • By: Bryan Schaaf

Below is an article by Miami Herald journalist Jacqueline Charles about Haiti's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the University Hospital of Mirebalais which plays a central role in it.  The University Hospital is one of the few hospitals with the capacity to stabilise patients with COVID-19 and to provide these services free of charge.  The Hospital staff are preparing for a potential surge in cases which could be caused by Haitians returning from the Dominican Republic due to lost livelihoods, the near impossibility of social distancing, and a health care system that was fragile even prior to the pandemic.  If you are looking for a way to help Haiti as it responds to the pandemic, consider a donation to Partners in Health which manages the University Hospital and remains the largest non-profit health care provider in the country.  

Even Before Coronavirus, Haiti was in Crisis

  • Posted on: 21 April 2020
  • By: Bryan Schaaf

In the New Humanitarian, Jessica Obert writes that Haiti never fully recovered from the earthuqake let alone cholera, political instability, and subsequent natural disasters.  While Haitians themselves are resilient their government and the systems that are supposed to be in place to ensue their health, safety, and well being are not.   Haiti's ever-fragile economy had already contracted 1.2 percent last year due to protests and the pandemic could result in a contraction of 2.7 percent this year according to the Haitian Ministry of Finance.  Physcial distancing does not work well in settings where people are living day to day due to economic hardship.  If there are positives, Haiti's population is younger and it has a history of working together with the Dominican Republic on infectious diseases.  As with other countries, Haiti will be living with the pandemic for a long time to come.

We Are Not Prepared: Haiti Confronts a Pandemic

  • Posted on: 20 April 2020
  • By: Bryan Schaaf

Haiti's health care system, a patchwork of public and private facilities, was struggling prior to the pandemic.   Instability and its root causes of poor governance, corruption, and poverty have resulted in poor access to health services for most Haitians.  BBC journalist Will Grant writes below that will every country in the Americas will be impacted by the coronavrius (COVID-19) pandemic, Haiti lacks the capacity and financial resources needed to increase its preparedness.  As has long been the case, the hard work of addressing growing health needs falls upon non-governmental organisations such as Partners in Health who received Haiti's first cases.  

Hunger in Haiti: Ten Years After the Earthquake, a New Disaster Looms

  • Posted on: 14 January 2020
  • By: Bryan Schaaf

Ten years after the earthquake, and despite billions of dollars in assistance, hunger is a growing problem in Haiti.  Food insecurity has been made worse by political instability and its root cause, corruption.  Up to four million people are now facing severe hunger due to the downturn of an already weak economy and inflation.  Hunger undermines nutrition, health, education, and stability, and economic development or, in other words, the future.  Humanitarian responders like the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) can provide food to the most vulnerable - but they can't fix the underlying problems.  This depends upon the Haitian people having an accountable, effective government that represents the interests of the many instead of the few.  An article by Jassica Obert in The New Humanitarian about food insecurity in Haiti follows. 

Pages