Medical Brigade Team to Haiti

Located only a little more than 700 miles from the United States, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. According to the United Nations Development Program, approximately 80% of Haitians live on less than $2 per day.

In addition to living in poverty, most Haitians lack access to basic health services.

Environmental degradation combined, with a history of civil conflict and the recent earthquake in 2010 have only exacerbated to these issues.

This results in poor health outcomes, for example, Haiti has the highest rates of infant mortality rates in the Western Hemisphere. Leading causes of death include preventable diseases like respiratory infections, malaria, tuberculosis HIV/AIDS and diarrhea. Only approximately 26% of women deliver their children with the assistance of a skilled birth attendant. 

The life expectancy of a Haitian at birth is 61 years, which lags far behind the U.S. expectancy rate of 78.2. It has the highest population of HIV snd AIDS in the Western Hemisphere, with about 5.6% between 15-49 years of age living with the syndrome.

The purpose of this team's trip is to work in the rural village of Terre Blanche with our partner Haiti Foundation of Hope (HFH).  HFH runs a clinic that provides medical care to community members.

The clinic is staffed by locals; however the demand for services is very high. As with our other teams, this team will help provide services and see many patients during the 2 weeks they are in the country serving at the clinic.

The goal of the trip is to provide primary medical care to people living in Terre Blanche and surrounding communities.