By Patrick Costello
As droves of volunteers, medical professionals, aid organizations and armed services personnel continue to assist those affected by the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12th, the discussions are now shifting from disaster response and rescue to rebuilding efforts.
Of course, the immediate concern is, and should be, the survival of quake victims. However, at some point soon, the fragile Haitian state must begin to focus its limited resources on rebuilding a health system that will provide adequate public health services for its people. One of the many stresses on Haitian health services is the prevalence of HIV/AIDS among the population. According to the Joint United Nations program on HIV/AIDS, approximately 120,000 people are living with HIV in Haiti, and 2.2% of the Haitian population between the ages of 15-49 is infected. As we have witnessed in Africa, a high HIV/AIDS burden can strain an already underdeveloped health system. One of the often-overlooked challenges is securing a safe and reliable blood supply. Moreover, it is quite common for there to be a shortage of clean blood in HIV/AIDS-stricken nations following a natural disaster. As such, the World Health Organization has prioritized the protection of the blood supply in Haiti.
As Haiti begins to rebuild, this challenge of unsafe and inadequate supplies of blood can be overcome with targeted assistance from the United States through vehicles such as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), as well as private sector and NGO support. The recently released PEPFAR 5-year strategy puts renewed emphasis on strengthening local health systems and increasing coordination with multilateral institutions to improve the performance of health systems. This new orientation of PEPFAR, as well as their stated goal to improve the quality of blood supplies, will well position nations such as Haiti and those in Africa, where HIV/AIDS is prevalent, to secure and expand their safe blood supply.
While working with PEPFAR and private sector partners can help establish a long term solution to issues surrounding the quality and quantity of Haiti’s blood supply, in the short term there are a myriad of needs on the ground in Haiti. If you would like to contribute to these relief efforts, please contact your local Red Cross.
