March 2013


www.hamptonroadsmessenger.com


The Hampton Roads Messenger 11


CDC and Partners are Helping Haiti Recover, Rebuild, and Improve Public Health for Millions


Cholera: In 2012,


the National Directorate for Drinking Water and Sanitation trained and deployed 258 water technicians


to test


municipal water sources and provide education about sanitation in all 140 administrative communes of Haiti. A coalition for the elimination of epidemic cholera through


transmission investments


in water and sanitation infrastructure, good clinical services, and targeted use of the oral cholera vaccine is recruiting international partners.


Vaccine-Preventable


Deaths: From April to June 2012, a national vaccination campaign successfully targeted more than 2.5


BY DR. JOHN VERTEFEUILLE For many decades, Haiti has had


poor health service statistics and some of the highest rates of disease in the Americas. Before 2010, only 17% of Haitians had access to adequate sanitation, measles vaccine coverage was just 47%, HIV prevalence was 1.9%, and the parasitic disease lymphatic filariasis affected 7% of the population.


On Jan 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude


earthquake struck Haiti, resulting in more than 200,000 deaths, destruction of infrastructure, and further weakening of an already fragile health system. Although no one doubted the resilience of the Haitian people, both international and domestic public health organizations recognized the vulnerability that this national disaster had created. International aid arrived quickly after the earthquake to provide for basic needs, but there was a growing feeling that the disaster should prompt the transformation of Haiti’s health system.


However, the Haitian Government


had only just begun efforts to coordinate this process and to define medium-term goals when the inadvertent introduction


of Vibrio cholerae in October 2010 resulted in the worst cholera epidemic experienced by a single country in more than a century.


As the Haitian health system


began to recover from the cholera epidemic, the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) started to look beyond emergency responses and towards improvement of longer-term health care for the population. In a collaborative process led by MSPP, CDC and other organizations identified public health goals that support national health priorities to improve health service delivery and disease outcomes in the years ahead.


At the three-year anniversary of


the earthquake, Haiti is starting to show that its health services have expanded far beyond those in place before the earthquake occurred:


HIV: HIV testing of pregnant


women has increased by 55%. The proportion of HIV-infected pregnant women given antiretroviral drugs increased from 54% to 83% during the same two-year period. Access to highly active antiretroviral therapy for HIV rose from 35% of nationally eligible patients receiving the treatment in July 2009 to 69% in September 2012.


Scholarship Watch


million children younger than 10 years of age with measles-rubella and oral polio vaccines. A follow-up MSPP and CDC vaccine coverage survey showed that 91% of nearly 10,000 children sampled were vaccinated against mea- sles-rubella.


Parasitic Diseases: In


November 2011, MSPP first targeted Port-au-Prince with mass drug


administration for lymphatic filariasis; 2.3 million residents received the drugs, which increased national coverage to 90%. This number represents a substantial increase compared with 2009, when coverage was 35%. Annual national campaigns are planned to support elimination of lymphatic filariasis from Haiti.


These interventions represent an


expansion of public health services and reductions in disease in Haiti during the past three years. We believe that further gains can be achieved in each of these domains, as well as in other areas such as tuberculosis control, emergency obstetrics care, malaria elimination, and under-five mortality. However, the need for expanded public health services persists, and MSPP and its partners need to refine their priorities to ensure that maximum effectiveness is achieved as external post-earthquake resources continue to decrease.


MSPP leaders have shown good


foresight in working with partners to look beyond disasters and initiate long-term strategic plans. If these early successes are extended and sustained, significant public health achievement could warrant emphasis as one area of accomplishment in post-earth- quake Haiti, with lessons for other post-disaster settings.


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your bottom line? Advertise in the


Hampton Roads Messenger Call (757) 575-1863


The Friends of Hampton Roads, Inc., a community based service organization, is presently searching for intelligent and industrious African-American high school students who will need financial assistance to pursue a college degree. The Friends of Hampton Roads is cel- ebrating its 25th Anniversary. Over the last twenty-four years, the organization has awarded over $500,000 in scholar- ship to deserving minority students. This year, they intend to continue the tradition. Purpose: To provide scholarships to deserving


students who demonstrate a financial need and who are planning to attend a four-year college beginning Fall 2013. Requirements: •


Be an African American high


school senior and resident of South Hampton Roads/Virginia Peninsula with a minimum 3.0 grade point aver- age. •


Completion of an original 750-


1000 word essay, typewritten and dou- ble spaced.


(see scholarship application). •


Completion of Scholarship Ap- plication. (can be obtained as a PDF


document from the web- site at www.friendsof- hamptonroads.com ) •


Submit an official


high school transcript and copies of SAT scores. •


Submit a copy of your original


Financial Aid Form (FAFSA), available through your guidance counselor. •


Submit a copy of your parents'


or guardian's most recent W2 or 1099 form. If this is not available and your parents are unemployed, and then we must have proof of unemployment (let- ter from social services agency, etc.)


Visit hamptonroadsmessenger.com for a list of 50 scholarships • All requirements must be met


in order for application to be consid- ered.


DEADLINE: Must be postmarked by April 1, 2013. (See address below)


Friends of Hampton Roads PO Box 41064 Norfolk, Virginia 23541-1064


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