December 2, 2022
Cholera Outbreak Affects Thousands of People in Syria
Doctors of the World has been active in Haiti for over 30 years
Our teams work in 9 departments across the country, including Grand-Anse and Nord-Ouest
From providing women and girls with access to reproductive healthcare, to responding to natural disasters such as Hurricane Matthew and the deadly 2010 earthquake, our teams have been strengthening access to healthcare in Haiti since 1989.
Since 2010 we have also been involved in the treatment and prevention of cholera outbreaks, which remain a major public health issue. Our network covers some particularly hard to reach areas where our mobile clinics provide rapid response to reported cholera cases to prevent the disease from spreading.
200,000
Killed
300,000
Injured
2.3 million
Left homeless
Haiti is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. On January 12th 2010, the country was struck by a violent earthquake that left 200,000 people dead, 300,000 injured and 2.3 million homeless.
In the aftermath of the earthquake, we provided vital healthcare to 580,000 people and carried out 800 surgical operations. After assisting those injured and displaced by the earthquake, we immediately focused on Haiti’s reconstruction.
We focused on consolidating the health system, providing training to health personnel, & supplying essential medical equipment
We were also present in October 2016 when Hurricane Matthew – a Category 4 storm – hit the country, killing an estimated 1,332 people and displacing over 140,000.
We immediately deployed an emergency team, developed cholera prevention programs, and deployed mobile health clinics to provide vital health care in the most affected areas.
Despite the destruction, the ability of Haitians to rise up and organize is immensely impressive. The members of our team who were directly affected by the hurricane were the first to mobilize a response. I am extremely proud of their courage and dedication.
In addition to our emergency response work our teams also work on reducing infant mortality, sexual and reproductive health, and supporting primary healthcare services alongside the Haitian government.
In partnership with two civil society organizations, POZ (Health, Life and HIV) and SOFA (Haitian Women’s Solidarity), Doctors of the World is working in Port-au-Prince to improve women’s access to sexual and reproductive healthcare. We also support women focused organizations in their efforts to establish a healthcare access observatory and an advocacy platform for sexual and reproductive health rights in the region.