Health

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Preval Hits the Road: Dicusses Public Health and Self-Reliance

  • Posted on: 30 January 2008
  • By: Bryan Schaaf

Haitian leaders tend to get bogged down in ever-unstable Port au Prince.  It is a matter of political survival.  However, most of Haiti is rural and certainly most of what is good about Haiti is to be found outside of its largest city.  Recently President Preval made a public tour of the Central Plateau.  We were happy to see that public health was a recurring theme of his trip.  Regardless of one's political beliefs, we can all agree increased attention to public health is essential.  When a person has health, a person has hope.  Where there is hope, there is also the possibility of development and a better future.  

Providing Culturally Appropriate Health Care in the Haitian Context

  • Posted on: 1 January 2008
  • By: Bryan Schaaf

paul farmer examining a patientPaul Farmer examining a patientI recently came across a document I wrote years ago as part of a training for ex-pat health workers at the Hopital Justinien in Cap Haitian.  It concerns how to provide health services to Haitians.  I wrote it for two reasons.  First, cultural misunderstandings in a medical context can have serious consequences.  Second, I was bothered when I would sometimes hear expat health care providers complain about how hard it was to work with Haitians - as if there were something wrong with them.  Quite the contrary.  To be an effective provider, one has to know his/her own culture as well as that of the patient.

A Report Card for Haiti and the World: UNICEF 2007 Progress for Children Report

  • Posted on: 11 December 2007
  • By: Bryan Schaaf

I would argue that the measurement of progress in a country is not the quantity of money a person has, not the ammount of technology possessed, but rather the ability of that country to meet the needs of its children.  The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has just released a report which suggests we have a long way to go, for Haiti and the world.

Project Medishare Blog - Health Care on the Central Plateau

  • Posted on: 9 December 2007
  • By: Bryan Schaaf

We frequently write about the innovative work that Project Medishare and its partners began in Thomonde and have expanded into ineighboring provinces.  Recently, they remodelled their website and added a very nice blog and its definitely worth a look if you are interested in Haiti's Central Plateau and public health.

Lymphatic What?? Haiti and a Neglected Disease

  • Posted on: 8 December 2007
  • By: Bryan Schaaf

HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and TB are the unholy Trinity of illness in the developing world.  But there are a number of less widely known diseases, which while not fatal, cause a great deal of sickness, suffering, and disability.   One of them is Lymphatic Filariasis, also known as Elephantiasis.   But what is it?  LF is a disease that is transmitted by mosquitoes that bite infected humans and pick up microfilariae – thread like parasitic worms.  Below is a picture.

 

 

Beyond Replication - Rwanda scales up PIH model as National Rural Health System

  • Posted on: 1 November 2007
  • By: Bryan Schaaf

Members of the Haiti Innovation Community are by now no doubt familiar with the organization Partners in Health and the pionerring work their team has done in Haiti bringing community based health care to  the lowest possible resource settings, and in particular, developing novel new approaches to treating both HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis.

 

The Plumpynut Paradigm Shift: Treating Severe Malnutrition v 2.0

  • Posted on: 26 October 2007
  • By: Bryan Schaaf

It would be an under-statement to say that Haiti is a hungry country. Population growth, deforestation, and a weak economy are just a few reasons.  Hunger also contributes to instability in Haiti - building a functional democracy that can endure over the long term is a challenge when many do not know where their next meal is coming from.

 

A Haitian Doctor in Lesotho - Way to Go Jonas!

  • Posted on: 17 October 2007
  • By: Bryan Schaaf

An article on the Partners in Health website recently caught my eye.  For those not familiar, Partners in Health is a non profit organization that pioneered community based methods of treating HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in low resource settings with incredible success.  The program started in Haiti and was expanded into Latin America and Africa. 

 

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