Haiti
About Haiti
Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola with the neighboring Dominican Republic. It is the third-largest nation in the Caribbean and has a population of 11.4 million, making it the most populous country in the Caribbean.
Haiti is extremely vulnerable to natural disasters, with more than 96% of its population at risk. In addition, a combination of political instability and economic volatility have led to a poverty rate of nearly 60%. Haiti has made some significant health gains, including slowing the spread of cholera, but it still has high rates of maternal and infant mortality and its Human Development Index ranking is the lowest in the Americas.
The Challenges
Haiti is still struggling to recover from the devastating 2010 earthquake, which killed more than 250,000 people. The country has been wracked by natural disasters, including Hurricane Matthew, a category 5 hurricane that hit in October 2016 and destroyed more than 200,000 homes. The 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck in 2021 exacerbated these challenges, killing over 2,200 people and leaving 40% of the affected population homeless.
Even before the 2010 earthquake, Haiti was facing a housing shortage that impacted hundreds of thousands of people. The earthquake and hurricane added to a nationwide health care crisis: Haiti has just 25 physicians for every 100,000 people, just one-tenth the number in the U.S.
Haiti has made great progress in many health areas, including cholera, but it still has several major health areas of concern. Haiti has the highest HIV prevalence in the western hemisphere, and its other health challenges include tuberculosis, malaria, dengue, water-borne illness, child and maternal health, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
Project HOPE’s Work in Haiti
Project HOPE has worked to support the people of Haiti since the 1980s, including programs in maternal and child health and emergency responses to the 2010 earthquake and Hurricane Matthew in 2016. After a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck on August 14, 2021, Project HOPE mobilized emergency relief and helped the country’s health system recover for the long term.
Cholera Outbreaks & Haiti’s Complex Humanitarian Crisis
In late 2022, Project HOPE began responding to cholera outbreaks in Haiti by equipping health clinics with appropriate water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) supplies, distributing hygiene kits, renovating water points, and training community health agents.
As cholera cases declined in early 2023 and the needs of the communities we worked with changed, our team shifted our response in Haiti to focus on strengthening the capacity of the health system in the Sud, Nippes and Grand’Anse departments. In May 2023, our team’s health needs assessment found that health facilities in these areas are understaffed, underfunded, and face shortages of essential pharmaceuticals and medical supplies — as well as the gang violence, political and economic turmoil, and food insecurity that all communities in Haiti are affected by.
Read more about this assessment >
In response to this complex humanitarian crisis in the Sud, Nippes and Grand’Anse departments, Project HOPE’s team in Haiti has initiated a multi-sectoral response to:
- Ensure the continuity and provision of primary health services, through mobile medical units, health worker trainings, and the distribution of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies
- Improve WASH standards in health facilities and communities through infrastructure repairs, facility rehabilitation, hygiene kit distribution, and community-based testing of drinking water
- Provide protection through evidence-based MHPSS programs in health facilities and communities and the strengthening of GBV case management and referral pathways
- Improve coordination between humanitarian organizations within the health, WASH, protection, and SGBV sectors
Project HOPE has begun operating Mobile Medical Units to increase access to primary health care and is building a team of social workers to Mental Health and Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) experts, including a team of social workers to support survivors of SGBV at the community level. Project HOPE will also be training health care staff on the clinical management of SGBV survivors.
Read more about Project HOPE’s current work in Haiti >
2021 Earthquake
When the 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck on August 14, 2021, Project HOPE deployed a team of first responders to provide medical relief to hard-hit areas around Les Cayes. Following our initial response, Project HOPE implemented USAID’s Restoring Basic Primary Health Services in Post-Earthquake Haiti program. In coordination with the Ministry of Public Health and Population in Haiti, Project HOPE and Health Equity International restored basic primary health services to earthquake-affected communities across the Sud, Grand’Anse, and Nippes departments.
Learn more about our response >
Our History in Haiti
Project HOPE began working in Haiti in 1984, through a multi-country USAID project to develop clinical laboratory capacity at the University Hospital in Port-au-Prince. Since then, our programs have focused on improving maternal and child health and strengthening the health workforce through training and provision of essential medicines and equipment.
Project HOPE has also supported Haiti in the wake of natural disasters, providing both immediate relief and long-term health system strengthening.
2010 Earthquake
In 2010, Project HOPE responded to the 7.0-magnitude earthquake by deploying more than 100 medical volunteers and delivering more than $60 million in donated medicines and medical supplies.
As Haiti recovered from the earthquake, Project HOPE remained and established the country’s first free, comprehensive rehabilitation and prosthetic facility for amputee victims, Chanje Lavi (“Changing Lives” in Creole). More than 4,000 patients received services ranging from physical therapy to receiving casts, slings, and in some cases, surgery and prosthetics.
Project HOPE later expanded rehabilitation training and support to six regional centers for people with disabilities, helping to ensure long-term access to care.
Hurricane Matthew
In 2016, Project HOPE responded to Hurricane Matthew by deploying medical volunteers and shipping critically needed supplies. Based on identified needs, HOPE remained and supported the St. Therese Regional Hospital to establish a new Cholera Treatment Center in Miragoane, the capital city of the Nippes Department in southwest Haiti. The 20-bed center was built with support from Project HOPE’s skilled volunteer engineers through the Sextant Foundation.
Project HOPE has also supported Haiti through cold chain strengthening at the Sacre Coeur Hospital in Milot and placing expert volunteers at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Deschappelles, to help augment and train local staff.