On January 12, 2010, a major earthquake rocked Port au Prince, Haiti, killing untold numbers, maiming thousands and sending millions of men, women and children on a search for food, water, health care and shelter. Haitians have been living through a series of humanitarian crises, whether natural or man-made, for decades but this most recent one is unprecedented in its destruction of life and infrastructure. Prior to the earthquake, MAC had supported primary care efforts at the Saint Nicolas Hospital in Saint-Marc, northeast of Port au Prince. Since the earthquake, we have focused on directing donations for Haiti to our grantee there, Partners in Health, as we believe that they are best situated to provide the emergency assistance needed at this time. However, we are also all too aware that as in Chad, Sudan or Sri Lanka, in which MAC currently supports programs, the post-crisis period will be a difficult one characterized by heightened needs but shrinking support from international donors. MAC is exploring ways to provide sustainable, accessible, locally-driven health programs to start helping Haitians rebuild their health care infrastructure.
Primary Health
In such a resource-poor and continually crisis-ridden environment, hospitals themselves often lack the capacity to bring health care to the level needed by the community. At the Saint Nicolas Hospital in Saint-Marc, our supported program has been working closely with the Hospital’s staff to scale up comprehensive HIV care, including antiretroviral therapy (ART), and to improve the Hospital’s infrastructure by adding or improving the emergency room, post-op ward for surgical patients, maternity ward, internal medicine ward and imaging center with x-ray and ultrasound capabilities. These long-term improvements include the stocking of pharmacies and wards with essential equipment that will serve patients both in the short and long term. MAC’s contribution to this strengthened capacity and infrastructure is small and simple but vital: hospital beds.
