Provide Medicine to Earthquake Victims in Haiti

Equipping Medical Staff in Haiti

MADRE has been working with Partners in Health to support Zanmi Lasante as they continue providing emergency care for the earthquake survivors in Port-au-Prince and for those who have managed to flee the city.

Through the support and cooperation of many aid agencies, within the first days after the earthquake, the general hospital in Port-au-Prince (HUEH) was equipped to receive survivors. Since then, medical staff has been working around the clock to treat the many severe injuries people sustained during the disaster.

Zanmi Lasante medical staff has also been receiving patients in their clinics and at field hospitals around Haiti to deal with the flow of patients fleeing Port-au-Prince. Medical staff has reported that the need for orthopedic surgeons is dropping, but that there is an increased need for post-operational care.

Ophelia Dahl, Executive Director of Partners in Health, reported from her trip to Haiti this week that the hospitals and clinics are still receiving people with untreated injuries, a full two weeks after the disaster.

Women's Health Delegation Responds to the Most Pressing Health Needs in Haiti

MADRE partnered with Circle of Health International (COHI) to send several teams of women's health workers into Haiti over the last two weeks. Seven volunteers are now on the ground in Haiti, working out of Fond Parisien, a Haitian town on the border with the Dominican Republic. Every day, more earthquake survivors arrive in packed buses as they flee the devastation of Port-au-Prince. In addition to serving the general population of survivors, the volunteers are caring for pregnant women and victims of sexual abuse.

One team member has begun the Rapid Health Assessment, an assessment to identify the most pressing women's health needs. To this end, a group of Haitian women have been hired to conduct interviews and they are currently being trained in interviewing skills.

Providing Medical Care to the Most Vulnerable

MADRE is working with SOFA, a national Haitian women's organization, to provide medical services to earthquake survivors. SOFA and MADRE partnered in 1996 to build Klinik Fanm, the first Haitian clinic dedicated exclusively to women's health and human rights. Though the clinic building was damaged in the earthquake, the doctors and women's health practitioners have managed to set up a temporary clinic for survivors, and they are treating a steady stream of patients every day.