This article combines health and water research results, evidence from confidential documents released under the Freedom of Information Act, legal analysis, and discussion of historical context to demonstrate that actions taken by the international community through the Inter-American Development Bank are directly related to a lack of access to clean water in Haiti. The article demonstrates tha...

As global health education becomes increasingly important, more physicians are participating in international health electives (IHEs). Haiti is a favorable site for an IHE because of its substantial health care needs and rich culture. Although both osteopathic and allopathic physicians can provide effective health care to Haitians, osteopathic physicians may be particularly well suited to serve...

Objective. To determine if there is an unrecognized problem of congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) in Haiti, a country without a national rubella immunization program. Methods. During March 2001 and June 2001, screening physicals were conducted on approximately 80 orphans at three orphanages in Haiti that accept disabled children. Children were classified as probable CRS cases based on establishe...

An epidemic of cholera infections was documented in Haiti for the first time in more than 100 years during October 2010. Cases have continued to occur, raising the question of whether the microorganism has established environmental reservoirs in Haiti. We monitored 14 environmental sites near the towns of Gressier and Leogane during April 2012-March 2013. Toxigenic Vibrio cholerae O1 El Tor bio...

On January 12, 2010, an earthquake devastated Haiti's infrastructure, killing an estimated 230,000 persons and displacing more than 1.5 million. Ten months later, Haiti experienced the beginning of the largest cholera epidemic ever reported in a single country. Immediately after the earthquake and at the start of the cholera epidemic, health priorities in Haiti included improvement of surveilla...

After the January 12, 2010, earthquake in Haiti, Project Medishare and the University of Miami organized, built, and staffed a 200-bed field hospital (the University of Miami Hospital in Haiti [UMHH]) on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. We describe the operational challenges of providing a safe environment at the UMHH. Furthermore, we compared how these issues were addressed at this ad hoc hosp...

Hispaniola is the only Caribbean island to which Plasmodium falciparum malaria remains endemic. Resistance to the antimalarial drug chloroquine has rarely been reported in Haiti, which is located on Hispaniola, but the K76T pfcrt (P. falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter) gene mutation that confers chloroquine resistance has been detected intermittently. We analyzed 901 patient samples ...

Since the 18th century, Haiti and the Dominican Republic have experienced similar natural forces, including earthquakes and tropical storms. These countries are two of the most prone of all Latin American and Caribbean countries to natural hazards events, while Haiti seems to be more vulnerable to natural forces. This article discusses to what extent geohazards have shaped both nation’s demogra...

Reported in Haiti as early as 1923, Mansonella ozzardi is still a neglected disease ignored by the health authorities of the country. This review is an update on the geographic distribution of the coastal foci of mansonelliasis in Haiti, the epidemiological profile and prevalence rates of microfilariae in people living in endemic areas, the clinical impact of the parasite on health and the effi...