Haitian Population - Haiti Observer Blog

If you don't believe that there is a problem with the current rate of population increase in Haiti, think again. As of 2016, the current population in Haiti was estimated at 10,485,800. The population is currently growing at a rate of 1.71%. This growth rate already take into consideration the effects of excess mortality, lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and higher death rates.

The birth rate, in 2016 was estimated at 23.3 births/1,000 population while the death rate was at 7.7 deaths/1,000 population. The Median age in Haiti is 22.6 years.

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The chikungunya virus's first case was recorded in May in Haiti, and health clinic workers say they have diagnosed 40,000 cases of what they believe to be chikungunya. The symptoms of the virus are severe joint pain that immobilizes victims for days on end and dehydration. The most extreme cases advance to a stage of respiratory failure.

Chikungunya has spread throughout the Caribbean with cases documented in as many as 20 countries in the South Region. They include the Virgin Islands, Dominica, Martinique, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, French Guyana, and Suriname.

Researchers have yet to develop a vaccine, and pain medication is the only remedy available. But for poor folk medication like acetaminophen is too expensive. Authorities have been dispensing free pain medication to public health clinics to counteract pharmacies preying on the vulnerable to shell out their last gourde to stop the pain.

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Overpopulation on the globe has become a serious concern to governments. All sectors of society are affected: jobs, education, healthcare, and agriculture. In emerging nations, the phenomenon is more intensified. Weak economies cannot create sufficient employment opportunities to lift people out of poverty. Nowhere is this truer than in Haiti. On the index of failed states, the small island has difficulty gaining traction to provide employment, housing, education, and healthcare to 70% of its 10 million population.

The poor in Haiti have become so desperate they often take to the streets, setting cars on fire and erecting barricades to obstruct the flow of commerce to voice their indignation at what they are forced to endure. Much of the violence occurring in places like Port-au-Prince come from gang activity. The Haitian National Police try to manage it but between inadequate manpower and the underground nature of gang activity it is like treading water.

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The government of Haiti (GOH) will be conducting its Fifth General Census of Population and Housing in 2014. It is expected to create 15,000-20,000 jobs. Chairman of the National Census Committee, Wilson Laleau, said data gleaned from the two-year count will provide GOH information about people's economic status, and what health and education services are available to them. The 2014 census is projected to cost about $26 million dollars. GOH will absorb most of the cost, with financial support from Brazil and France.

Some of the principle goals of the census include:

Collection of statistics on:
• Population growth.
• Pregnancies, marriages, deaths, and migration behaviors.
• Environmental features and types of housing.

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Haiti, the poorest country in Western Hemisphere has one of the highest population densities in the world. In 2010, the population of Haiti was 9.6 million and it is estimated to grow up to 13.4 million by the end of 2050, says the U.S. Census Bureau. The figures were given by International Data Base of U.S. Census Bureau that has a compilation of the estimated population as well as projected population for 227 countries.

According to the Haitian government, the devastating earthquake that had hit Haiti in 2010, claimed 230,000 lives, which was 3 times the total deaths that occurred in Haiti a year before. The population density value for Haiti in 2011 was 367.34 in 2011. Population density represents the number of people that live in one square kilometer of land area. This was the highest population density that was ever registered in Haiti in last 50 years.

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Jean-Claude Duvalier or Duvalier Junior or Baby Doc, the ex-dictator of Haiti and been put on trial for corruption. Antonio Jorge Ramalho, a political scientist from Brazil sees at an ex-president being put on trial as a historical event.

Duvalier Junior bequeathed his dictatorship from his father François Duvalier who was elected as the President of Haiti in 1957. François Duvalier or Duvalier Senior or Papa Doc turned out to be a dictator and tried to clean up the political opposition while suppressing the citizens of the country. He unleashed a criminal regime and before he died in 1971, he handed over the dictatorship to Duvalier Junior. Baby Doc ruled for another 15 years following the footsteps of his father and in a total of 29 years of dictator regime of the Duvaliers, an estimated 40 to 60 thousand people died because of torture, suppression and murder.

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