Photo by Jessica Phelps
As of June 26th, there were 5,543 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Haiti, an increase of 105 from the previous day, and 96 confirmed deaths, a daily increase of 3, according to Wikipedia. But that doesn’t represent the real numbers. In Port-au-Prince, 90 percent of those tested are COVID-19-positive. The virus has been identified in all 10 departments, and major international Health Organizations such as the World Health Organization, Partners in Health, and Doctors Without Borders have been sounding the alarm about how unprepared the country is with few COVID-19 ready hospitals available. Haiti's health system today is a jumble of several large nonprofits like the GHESKIO Centers and Partners in Health, smaller accessible clinics like Healing Art Missions (HAM), private clinics, and poorly funded and staffed public facilities.
Testing for COVID-19is extremely limited, and coupled with the Haitian public’s fear of testing means that thousands go untested and deaths are most likely greatly undercounted. The reasons for these issues have as much to do with politics and economics as with the weak public health system. The Haitian government put together a government commission who developed a COVID-19 attack plan which said $176 million was needed to create 30 COVID-19 ready centers with a total of 300,000 " COVID-19 beds" equipped with an oxygen supply. To date the Government has spent $20 million on this effort, with the private sector kicking in $3.5 million, and the World Bank has pledged $20 million but has not delivered as yet. Most other past donors have not stepped up and the funding effort is falling well short of the need.
Another problem is the Haitian population’s mistrust of both their own government and the international humanitarian community. As of this date, the Haitian government has delivered very little of the COVID-19commissions plan for centers and beds; and, why should Haitian’s have trust in the international humanitarian community after years of repeated unkept promises following the 2010 earthquake to "built back better," and the UN’s years of refusal to take responsibility for the Cholera outbreak the UN brought to Haiti soon after the 2010 Earthquake. There is also a huge problem of rumor and misinformation in Haiti causing great fear of stigmatization and being forced into quarantine, so a great many people avoid medical assistance. Some communities who have reported people who are sick or thought to have COVID, have been attacked. Furthermore, religious leaders, especially Evangelical preachers, have said the disease does not exist and that "if we rely on Jesus Christ, we have nothing to worry about," according to Jean William (Bill) Pape, M.D., executive director of the GHESKIO and head of the Haitian governments COVID-19 commission.
Through all this, HAM continues to address the needs of the communities we serve (see article “Mask Making in Baudin-Gros Sable”). Our clinic in Dumay remains open and staffed to see patients, as well as providing ongoing community education regarding how to protect themselves and others from COVID-19. We are currently working on finding ways to get much needed PPE’s to the clinic. Thanks to everyone who continues to support our work supporting the people of Haiti.