Improving women's health in Dominican Republic

Dear friends of HHI,

We hope this message finds you with great joy. The emergence of this new strain of coronavirus has imposed a challenge on access to public health throughout the world, but we cannot ignore the impact it has had on vulnerable communities in developing countries; especially vulnerable girls and women. Despite the countless achievements that have been made for gender equity in public services and systems, there are still barriers that continue to disproportionately affect women.

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer in women worldwide, with an estimated 570,000 new cases in 2018. In 2018, almost 90% of the 311,000 deaths from this cause worldwide occurred in low- and middle-income countries. According to our records, the Dominican Republic has an average of 1,500 new cases of cervical cancer each year and 600 deaths from this disease, but studies by international organizations report that 13,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed each year in the Dominican Republic.

Our organization, driven by ensuring that medical coverage reaches the most remote places, continues to do its bit to improve the living conditions of thousands of women and girls through quality health services. In the past three months, we have had the opportunity to:

1) Train over 20+ female community health workers with the basic skills of primary care and chronic care, conducting home visits and delivering medicines to hundreds of women in the rural Dominican Republic
2) Execute 4 sessions on Women's Health focused on the prevention of cervical cancer, breast cancer, and other chronic pathologies that disproportionately affect women, such as diabetes and hypertension
3) Medication and treatment were provided for more than 95% of the women attended, and 100% adherence to treatment was achieved
4) In addition, it was possible to create educational material for more than 10+ workshops on health education and prevention; in which 40-50 women are impacted

As part of our organizational development plan, we received support from the local authorities for the construction of a health center to open in mid-2022 where we hope to expand our portfolio of services including low-cost imaging and sonography, as well as other planning services and HPV vaccination.

Although the gap in access to health for people facing social, economic, and political disparities is wider due to this pandemic; People like you who support our work help us serve as a bridge for the people who need it most. We cannot compensate for the difficulties this global pandemic has created for non-profit organizations like ours whose work is more crucial now than ever, But knowing that we have the continuous support of people like you assure us that we are not alone.

Sincerely,