By Victor Ukatu | Development Coordinator
Partners In Health is committed to building a lasting health care system in Haiti. Because of your generosity, Partners In Health in Haiti (Zanmi Lasante) is able to reach more families with the health care and support that they need in order to recover from disasters and prepare for the next hurricane season, just around the corner. We are pleased to share an update from our Haiti program with you.
To date, Zanmi Lasante has successfully vaccinated more than 25,000 girls against HPV. While a major accomplishment, this is barely a drop in the ocean; roughly 34 percent of the Haitian population of 3.5 million is under 14. (The recommended age for HPV vaccines is 11 to 12 years old). Two other organizations, GHIESKO and St. Boniface, have vaccinated several thousand young girls in years past, but there has been no nationwide HPV campaign. By comparison, Haiti’s neighbor, the United States, has successfully vaccinated 60 percent of girls and 47 percent of boys against HPV.
Miss Pierre, who had been diagnosed with cervical cancer some months before explained that she does not want her granddaughter to die of the same disease. She made sure the young girl was in school to receive the vaccine and will do her best to ensure she will be there for the second and final dose six months later. Pierre’s granddaughter is one of the lucky ones. In Haiti, cervical cancer is a reality for the roughly 1,500 families every year that lose a mother, daughter, aunt, or sister to an almost completely preventable disease, according to estimates by the United Nations and World Health Organization.
The executive director of Zanmi Lasante respects the efforts of NGOs in Haiti that are fighting for equal access rights to HPV vaccines. She equates today’s efforts in HPV to those made by her colleagues and PIH co-founders in the 1980s in HIV/AIDS detection and treatment.
As Partners In Health continues to assist in building a world class health system for Haiti, we are glad to have donors like you by our side. Thank you!
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