Hope Not Lost in Healthcare Delivery in Haiti

On January 12, 2010, the Caribbean nation of Haiti was rocked by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, leaving thousands dead and more injured. Now, as aid floods in, Haiti is dealing with the aftermath of the quake.

The earthquake killed as many as 200,000 and left as many as 3 million injured among the rubble, according to health officials in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Now, officials worry that crowded, unsanitary conditions in make-shift refugee camps will harbor the spread of infectious diseases like typhoid and measles. Although thousands have already received medical care and surgery from volunteer doctors, officials fear that these patients will not receive proper follow-up care and cannot be placed in the sterile environment necessary to avoid infection. Eleven of the country’s few hospitals and one nursing school were destroyed in the quake, leaving a shortage of native healthcare workers and proper healthcare facilities. The remaining healthcare facilities are at capacity, and the homes of many who have already been treated were destroyed, leaving them nowhere to recover. Those who are chronically ill and receiving ongoing treatment for conditions like HIV no longer have access to essential medicines.  

Healthcare delivery in Haiti at this time is compounded by poverty. Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, lacked proper healthcare infrastructure even before the quake, reportedly spending only $85 a day on health-related expenses. Even before the quake, 55% of households survived on less than $1 a day, according to the World Health Organization. Less than 50% of the population had access to clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services prior to the quake.

"These conditions are imposing enormous difficulties in managing the supply and distribution of the massive amounts of aid that generous people and organizations are pouring into the country," said Jon Andrus, deputy director of the Pan American Health Organization.

Despite these complications, all hope is not lost. Medical staff sent by the US Department of Health and Human Services have delivered 25 babies since the quake, according to Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "In the midst of all of the tragedy, the sorrow and the destruction, our staff has helped to deliver 25 babies," Sebelius said. “There is a resilience, and life goes on among our neighbors and friends."

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