When talking about healthcare in Haiti, it is impossible to ignore the forty-five-second earthquake that decimated the hospitals and clinics in Haitian Capital to rubbles. The calamity reverted all the advancements gained back to the medical stone age.
Even though Haiti did not have modern medical facilities and enough health care practitioners, the quake destroyed all the health care infrastructure that was already available; transport network, water and sanitation systems and electricity, thus, shutting down the delivery of health care services.
Haiti is a country trapped in the medical backwater. Close to 80% of the country’s population live below the poverty line with 54% living in extreme poverty. Haitians are impoverished with diseases and disability year after year. For example, the cure for tuberculosis infection has existed for over fifty years, yet the disease claims close to 5000 people every year. Aids is also another chronic disease that claims over 7000 individuals yearly despite the existence of anti-retroviral drugs.
Despite the provision of health care services from foreign non-governmental organizations, thousands of Haitians continue to die each year from curable disease and infections. This has largely been attributed to the NGOs discontinuing their operations because of little government support. The public hospitals are in a sorry state, and the individuals who run the government have greatly ignored them. Public health experts and medical practitioners claim that the health sector is under-funded thus straining the few resources available. The earthquake partly destroyed the main teaching and referral hospital and according to a partner’s in health proposal, the reconstruction of the hospital was to be given priority but up to date, there is little progress.
Cholera is a water-borne disease that is spread through consumption of contaminated water and food items. It can easily be treated although it kills within hours if the patient does not seek medical attention early enough
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Haiti’s Shaky State of Maternal health care
Haiti has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the western hemisphere
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Inside one of the few clinics in the Haitian capital is a few dozen people reclined in cots, some of them so sick that they require intravenous infusion to hydrate their bodies. However, according to the doctor in charge, all of the patients are in stable conditions and are expected to survive the agonizing death. Some of the patients who are stable enough are sharing their experiences and how they contracted the disease with each other hoping that they will never get sick again.
The patients say that they were fortunate enough to contract the disease while living close to one of the country’s cholera treatment center. Many other individuals were not lucky enough to get healthcare services as Haiti continues to fight one of the deadliest disease outbreak in the current century.
Cholera is a water-borne disease that is spread through consumption of contaminated water and food items. It can easily be treated although it kills within hours if the patient does not seek medical attention early enough. Cases of cholera were first reported in Haiti in October 2010. Close to 770,000 or 7 % of the population has contracted the disease since then with the disease claiming the lives of 9200 people. According to government statistics, in this year alone, the disease has sickened about 6000 individuals with an average 37 people dying each month.
The disease is now considered as endemic because it occurs regularly. Public health officers are worried that the country is losing the fight against the disease as larger portions of resources are diverted to combat newer challenges such as the recent political unrest and the outbreak of the Zika virus in the region.
Medical missionaries and non-governmental organizations are trying to re-vamp the maternal health care of mums and newborn in Haiti. Haiti has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the western hemisphere. Most of the rural areas lack basic health care facilities thus, making the residents vulnerable to curable infections. It is estimated that a health professional attends only a quarter of the births in Haiti. Malaria Respiratory infections, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis are the leading causes of death in children under the age of five years. The lack of basic health care facilities in the country, particularly in rural areas has largely contributed to these deaths.
Supplies, medical equipment and technical assistance from volunteers and foreign non-governmental organizations have greatly assisted in improving the situation in the recent years. As at now, Haiti is free of polio and measles, thanks to the efforts of the medical volunteers and the assistance from the NGOs.
UNICEF and its partners have engaged in campaigns that seek to reduce the maternal mortality rate. It is supplying medical supplies and equipment, training the staff as well as reopening the health care facilities that have been abandoned or remained closed due to lack of medical supplies. UNICEF has also started voluntary counselling and testing facilities to help reduce the rate of mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS. According to the estimations provided by UNICEF, the campaign is expected to benefit close to 75000 pregnant women. In addition, to the above, UNICEF is also providing clean water and sanitation supplies as well as providing education on safe and proper hygiene to several schools across the country.
References
McFadden D. (2016). Cholera Quietly Still Kills Dozens a Month in Haiti. Cbcnews. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/cholera-quietly-kills-dozens-month-haiti-37359937
Fukada S. (2016). Born in Haiti.Cbcnews. Retrieved from: http://abcnews.go.com/International/born-haiti 37464239
Haiti. (2016). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/place/Haiti.html
