Health - Haiti Observer Blog

This accident was not good for Miss World 2013 winner Megan Young and Miss World Chairman Julia Morley during their visit in Haiti as they fell about 8 to 10 feet when the floor of the temporary building's second story collapsed.

However, it looked even worst for the organizers who were unable to provide at least a safe stand for an international celebrity like Miss World 2013 winner Megan Young.

It was reported that as a result of the building collapsing, Julia Morley and one of the children, Jonathan, suffered fractures. Miss World Megan Young and the other children at the stage escaped unhurt.

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The Martelly/Lamothe Administration, with the particular interest of Haitian First Lady Sophia Martelly, has unveiled the formation of a new training program for midwives at the National Institute of Higher Education of Midwives (INSFSF) on Monday, October 7, 2013. The First Lady, who didn't make light of the important role the women of this very old profession play in Haitian society, ushered in the facility and program by recalling the discipline's importance.

With its target being the implementation of a development plan plus human resource management in the fields of maternal and newborn care, and also family planning, the program established necessary changes to the way in which midwives are trained in the country.

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Are you planning for a trip to China anytime soon? if so, beside the usual screening for things you are not supposed to carry, you might have to undergo additional screening if you come from either Haiti, Mexico, Dominica, Cuba or any country where the Cholera virus was recently found.

China's quality watchdog wants authorities there to implement medical inspections and disinfection routines on any person or vehicles from countries with cholera.

The targeted countries include Mexico, Haiti, Dominica and Cuba.

According to General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), anyone who have been to the countries and have Cholera like symptoms should inform local AQSIQ bureaus ASAP
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In a new study that fails to tell Haitians anything they didn't already know about their flailing health care system, the Henry Ford Hospital stated that, to bridge the barriers existing in health care and culture, greater mobilized medical care needs to be implemented. While it says nothing new, the study highlights the health care problems faced by the Haitian population, especially after the 2010 earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands and left millions homeless.

What it did provide that might not yet be widely documented are some alarming percentages that show the true dire state of the Haitian health care system. Half of those surveyed said they have either contracted malaria, or knew someone who had. Slightly more, at 58%, have never heard of the infectious mosquito transmitted disease that manifests with a high fever and headache, dengue. 30% named fever as their main medical complaint and 76% feel unable to help loved ones who take ill. Perhaps more alarming is that 69% put no faith in Western medicine, believing that traditional Haitian techniques are more potent in treating their illnesses. It is perhaps why 79% name their religious leader as the primary source of their medical information.

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Human rights lawyers have filed law suit in a U.S Federal Court accusing United Nation for misconduct and gross negligence on behalf of the cholera victims in Haiti in 2010. They claimed that the reckless behavior of U.N was responsible for the cholera outbreak because several scientific and medical investigation reports have concluded that one of the most likely sources of the outbreak was leaking sewage system from a Nepalese peacekeepers complex in UN housing. There is no other acceptable explanation how the disease that was present only in the northeastern region of the Indian subcontinent 9,000 miles away, traveled to Haiti.

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Every year scores of Haitians die from accidents, disease and many other causes that could have been successfully treated had they been treated properly in a well-equipped hospital emergency room. Haiti has ten million people but with a single hospital only in the capital city that offers advance trauma and critical care unit.

The country has a rugged and mountainous landscape. Many patients with survivable injuries like broken bones or other similar causes die on the bumpy roads because they cannot reach the hospital in time. It is a death sentence for Haitians who are unlucky enough to get sick or hurt more than a few miles from a good hospital. A country like Haiti was in dire need of Air Ambulance service for a long time.

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Amidst continued denial by the United Nations and its representatives of their culpability in the devastating cholera outbreak that ravaged what was left of Haiti after the destruction caused by the 2010 earthquake, they remain vocal about their intent to help the country eliminate the illness, from the position of unassociated good samaritan. Taking this stance, the U.N. has said it is prepared to help Haiti fight the epidemic and promised to do so by raising, at every possible opportunity, the $450 million it will need to keep this promise. The problem is that, following the announcement made in the latter part of 2012 by the U.N.'s General Secretary, Ban Ki-moon, less than half of the needed amount has actually been raised, while cholera is still alive and claiming lives in Haiti. The hope which a planned donor meeting of the highest level to raise funds was to bring has been put on hold until 2014.

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Ambassadors of France, the United States, and Spain, on Thursday, August 2, signed a contract with the Ministers of Public Health and Economy for Haiti, that will see the Hospital of the State University of Haiti reconstructed. The reconstruction will be funded to a tune of USD 41.48 million.

This contact is under a cooperation program that has a total budget of USD 83.2 million. The contributions towards the project are as follows; Republic of Haiti will give USD 33.2 million, the French Development Agency (AFD) will contribute USD 25 million, and the U.S Agency for international Development (USAID) will contribute USD 25 million.

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Haitian Consulate General in Montreal informed that an arrangement would be made to honor and to pay tribute to Dr. Yvette Bonny. The honor was bestowed upon her on Wednesday June 12, 2013 at the premises of Haitian Consulate at 5:00 PM for her outstanding achievements and distinguished works.

The Haitian Consulate in Montreal chose Dr. Yvette Bonny, the great Haitian intelligentsia figure, under the label named 'A Woman, A Work'. The idea was to salute her for her achievements and the outstanding services she rendered to the medical community as a whole and also for being the first doctor in Quebec achieving successful bone marrow transplant and many other similar achievements throughout Eastern Canada.

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The Ministries of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry recently announced a ban on all poultry related items from Haiti's neighboring country the Dominican Republic after government officials in Santo Domingo confirmed the reports of an outbreak of Bird Flu in the country.

The threat of the deadly avian flu has caused a ban on all animal, meat and egg products from the Dominican Republic. The government, in an official statement, has also informed importers, resellers and consumers of the products which are potential carriers of the flu that the ban was of immediate effect and would remain in effect until further notice.

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