A Better Tomorrow for Haiti“Demen Miyò Pou Âyiti”

Collaborating Partners:FISH Ministries

Academie Chretienne de MacombreUniversity of Florida College of Public Health and

Health ProfessionsRotary International

MissionUsing a school-centric, community-based approach, we will integrate public health, agriculture, and economic best practices with faith-based education to develop individuals with high ethical and moral character to lead Haiti to successful self-sustaining economic development.

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Major Activities: Past, Present & Future

Already accomplished:

• Assist in the earthquake relief efforts

• Facilitate the rebuilding of local schools

• Initiate a post-quake vaccination program

New Initiatives

• Establish a school-based Family Health Center

• Institute a “train-the trainer” program for community-based health promotion

• Launch the Infectious Disease Field Laboratory

Other Activities (planned or initiated)

• Conduct a community-wide public health needs assessment

• Enhance the existing agricultural infrastructure for school-based nutrition programs

• Establish vocational training programs

• Employ microfinance strategies to encourage agricultural entrepreneurship

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Starting Over

School sessions resumed in April of 2010 using tents donated by Samaritan’s Purse

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Rebuilding

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Rebuilding of the local schools began almost immediately following the quake with assistance from UF.

Vaccination and Health Assessment Program

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Vaccination and Health Assessment Program Summary

•The program was conducted June 27-29, 2010•Clinic was held in tents at the Academie Chretienne de Macombre•624 individuals, representing 478 families attended the clinic•The ages of the participants ranged from 8 days to 95 years old•Participants were interviewed in Creole and health histories were

recorded by trained staff•Participants received a brief physical exam•Children and mothers were provided with a 30-day supply of

multivitamins•Pregnant women received a 30-90 supply of prenatal vitamins

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Vaccines administered No.

Tetanus Diphtheria 60Tetanus Diphtheria and Pertussis 243Total 303

Vaccine not administered

Under age 8 (no vaccine available) 205Other reason for not receiving vaccine (e.g., immunized within past 6 months, sick, or refused)

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Total 321

Grand Total 624

Vaccination Program Summary

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Community Health Assessment Summary

Living Conditions Percent respondents

Living in a tent 78%

Purchasing food from market 90%

Water from public pump 78%

No shoes 61%

No change of clothes 43%

No mosquito net 86%

No compensated work 76%

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Resumption of the Child Nutrition Program

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Vocational training and economic development activities begun before the quake are continuing

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Problem: • Mortality and morbidity of children in Haiti is the highest in the western hemisphere• Schools are the logical setting for child health assessment, early intervention, referral, and

tracking, but schools in Haiti do not include this serviceAction: • Renovate and equip small building at L’Academie Chretienne de Macombre as a family

health center• Develop an automated health tracking system linked to the system of the Ministry of

Health• Conduct assessments of all children in the school, including height, weight, vision,

hearing, development, physical anomalies, and immunization status• Provide immunizations to bring all children up-to-dateExpected Outcome: Early intervention and treatment of health problems; prevention of

vaccine-preventable diseases

New Public Health Initiatives:Establish a school-based Family Health Center

Problem: • Poor sanitary and hygienic practices, including drinking water from contaminated streams,

contribute to diarrheal and other debilitating diseases.• Malnutrition contributes to 60% of all deaths in childrenActions: • Educate all teachers at L’Academie Chretienne de Macombre in basic health principles and

practices, with special focus on hygiene, sanitation, clean water, air and vector-borne diseases, and nutrition

• Provide age-appropriate materials for teachers to integrate into regular classroom activities• Select and educate 15 community health workers on the same topics and nutritional, health, and

health service issues of infants and pregnant women• Develop a train-the-trainer program for teachers and community health workers• Expand the program to the school at ChristianvilleExpected Outcome: • Reduce the incidence of diarrhea due to water-borne diseases and prevent outbreaks of typhoid

and hepatitis.; improve nutritional status of children and pregnant women.

New Public Health Initiatives: Initiate health education in school curricula and launch school-based community services

Problem: Haiti is reported to have many endemic infectious diseases but diagnostic capabilities are even more sparse than before the earthquake.

Actions:• Launch the infectious disease field laboratory (estimated readiness April 2011)• Commission etiology of acute respiratory and diarrheal disease studies leveraging existing UF

infectious disease assets. • Offer introductory vocational training in laboratory technology and public health field work that

may lead to employment or more formal career training.

Outcomes: Answer important questions like these: 1. What pathogens are causing outbreaks of diarrheal or respiratory disease?2. What public health interventions are likely to reduce this most infectious disease morbidity?

New Public Health Initiatives:Launch the Infectious Disease Field Laboratory and Training Program

Field laboratory under construction by Fish Ministries, Gressier, Haiti, Oct 2010

Construction of the Infectious Disease Field Lab

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NEXT STEPS for the Family Health Center and Health Education Program

• Complete renovations of the Family Health Center at L’Academie Chretienne de Macombre and equip the facility with health assessment equipment, health education materials for children and adults, refrigerator/freezer for vaccines, computers for health tracking, and appropriate furniture.

• Secure training in the Haiti Ministry of Health tracking system; develop additional tracking fields, as necessary.

• Conduct assessment of medical and other specialty health services that serve Gressier residents, and arrange referral agreements with these agencies

• Conduct child health assessments and interventions in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, partnering agencies in Gressier/Leogane, and L’Academie Chretienne de Macombre

• Provide educational programs for teachers and community health workers

• Plan expansion to Christianville School

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• Complete construction and outfitting of the infectious disease field laboratory (estimated readiness April 2011).

• In collaboration with local Ministry of Health authorities and NGO medical clinics in Gressier, Haiti, design and conduct pilot etiology of acute respiratory and diarrheal disease epidemiological studies. Such studies will require the local hiring and training of Haitians to conduct the work.

• After these very common infectious disease problems are better understood, we will use the preliminary data to design more focused studies for external funding. Such studies will require further vocational laboratory and field epidemiology training of Haitians and eventually, full-time laboratory and epidemiological staff to manage the studies.

• As we increase the training experience of Haitian professionals, we anticipate their readiness to receive more sophisticated public health training perhaps in the United States. Examples include our year-long certificate programs and our 2-year MPH degree program.

NEXT STEPS For the Infectious Disease Laboratory and Training Program

Acknowledgments

• Rotary International• Sunrise Rotary Club of Palatka• St Augustine Rotary Club• US Southern Command• US Department of Defense• Samaritan’s Purse• Project Hope• KORE Foundation• Putnam Community Medical

Center• Shands Hospital• Double Harvest

• Alachua County Health Department

• Levy County Health Department• University of Florida

– College of Design, Construction and Planning

– College of Medicine– College of Nursing