Child Mortality - Haiti Observer Blog

According to reports of some UNICEF social workers, inadequate diapering is a huge contributor to diarrhea and worm infestations in Haitian babies. An entrepreneur is coming up with an idea to decrease Infant Mortality Rate in Haiti.

Jake's Diapers, Inc. is a 501(c) 3, non-profit ministry whose mission is to provide cloth diapers to babies, children, and adults in extreme poverty, especially in countries like Haiti. About six years ago, Stephanie Bowers, the Executive Director of Jake's Diapers once visited an orphanage in Pachacutec, Peru. There she saw that the caregivers, although their love for the babies was beyond doubt, were forced to reuse disposable diapers. They were doing their best with their only available option and that was a forced pick between diaper and food. This unthinkable choice happens every day for many rural Haitian families.

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Haiti has the highest rates of infant mortality under-five and maternal mortality in the Western hemisphere.

Injuries which account for (66%) are by far the most common cause of death in children aged 1 to 5 year. Over 2,000 Haitian children a year are trafficked to the Dominican Republic, often with the consent of their parents. Several thousands are working as messengers, spies and even soldiers for armed gangs and are subject to abuse and death.

Lack of access to basic health-care services is the next leading cause for Haiti high child mortality rate. Illnesses associated with infant mortality in Haiti include Diarrhea, malaria, tuberculosis, respiratory infections and HIV/AIDS.

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International Youth Day is observed annually on 12 August

International Youth Day (IYD) is an awareness day designated by the United Nations, which is observed every year on August 12, since 2000. It is celebrated all around the world with an objective to raise awareness about issues that affect young people who are aged between 15 and 24 years of old, making up one-sixth of the global human population. Each year the occasion is observed with a specific theme. The theme of 2015 was "Youth Civic Engagement" and the slogan for 2014 was "Youth and Mental Health." The logo of United Nation is often associated with the marketing and promotional material for this event. In the face of hardship, 'International Youth Day' is an effort to make sure that young people have the critical skills, tools, and support that they need to become healthy, productive and engaged members of society and they bring great leadership and resilience.

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Haiti, which suffered a crushing and debilitating earthquake in 2010, needs health-care workers, particularly in maternal and neo-natal care. Statistics reveal mothers during child-birth and neonates suffer 50 times the rate of child-birth mortalities than women in the U.S. Haitian women experience difficult pregnancies with dangerous blood-pressure levels, anemia, and sometimes cholera.

U.S mid-wives have arrived on a mission to bring down the death toll. And what they have found is distressing. The ratio of mid-wives to maternity patients is two for every 33 in labor. Mid-wives often work 24-hour shifts, sometimes for a week. Exhausted, they fall asleep, abandoning their charges. Women, who have already delivered, die from hemorrhaging that does not receive attention because of mid-wives' sleep deprivation. And during early hours of the morning they fear for their security, vulnerable to rapists. As a result they leave their patients alone.

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