Location: Jeremie

Situation:

Faced with chronic political instability, for many years Haiti has experienced growing security problems. The 2006 election of René Préval as president has led to some reforms in terms of justice and human rights. The frequent natural disasters and the economic situation, however, have prevented the implementation of these reforms. In this context, Doctors of the World UK (DoW UK) has set up mobile clinics to care for people affected by the cyclones and has developed a system of free healthcare to improve access to healthcare.

Activities:

Mobile clinics were set up to support the medical activities of 10 health centres, (according to the minimum package of services defined by the Ministry of Health). The data collected showed that provision of free healthcare led to a considerable increase in pregnant women and children under five attending the centres. Awareness-raising and prevention sessions were carried out regularly-before and during each clinic session. Before these different activities could be started, some of the centres destroyed by the cyclones were rebuilt.

Outlook:

From March 2009, DoW UK aims to start a second phase (April to July), introducing free healthcare for pregnant women and children under five in ten health facilities. There will also be a fixed fee of 25 gourdes (0.5 euros) for other consultations. We will continue systematic screening for acute malnutrition and will develop outpatient care in the health centres and referral of cases with serious complications to the nutritional recovery centre (which DoW UK refurbished) in the paediatric department of the regional hospital.