Haiti – The Foundation’s response to the health crisis
01/11/2017
Since Hurricane Matthew tore across the country on 4 October 2016, Haiti has been tackling another major humanitarian crisis.
In light of an increasing number of cholera cases, the Fondation Pierre Fabre has chosen to join forces with the NGOs ACTED and Collectif Haïti Occitanie.
On 4 October 2016, Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti with great force. Winds reaching 240 km/h and torrential rains completely devastated the southern peninsula, the country’s key food-growing region. Eighty percent of the homes and almost all crops there were destroyed. Of the 2.1 million people affected, 1.4 million are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
The destruction of healthcare centres has raised fears of a cholera epidemic: between 9 October and 5 November 2016, 5,100 suspected cases were recorded, more than double the number seen the previous month. Faced with this health crisis, and per its statutes, the Foundation wanted to respond in the field, taking direct action in a country where it already has an operational network thanks to its sickle-cell prevention and treatment work there. The Foundation’s objective is to improve sanitary conditions and bolster the resources required to fight cholera.
The Fondation Pierre Fabre is providing financial support for two NGOs that have been operational in Haiti for a number of years.
In collaboration with Collectif Haïti Occitanie, an umbrella organisation supporting development on the island through a dozen united associations from the Occitanie region in France, the Foundation will implement a programme to rebuild and renovate healthcare centres in the Nippes region. The humanitarian aid will also cover the purchase of water purifiers and support breeders who have lost livestock and equipment (purchase of goats, cows and equipment).
Beginning in January, working with the NGO ACTED, the Foundation is launching a programme to rebuild two cholera treatment centres in the Grand’Anse department to provide patients with swift and effective treatment. At the same time, ACTED and the Foundation plan to lead awareness campaigns about good hygiene practices to prevent epidemics from spreading over the long term and to make these practices more widespread.
For Béatrice Garrette, Director General of the Fondation Pierre Fabre, “The Fondation Pierre Fabre is already involved in Haitian public health programmes and was determined to help address the health crisis now faced by the country’s inhabitants. ACTED and the Collectif Haïti Occitanie have onsite experience that will help us act swiftly and effectively.”
A few figures
- 2 128 708 people directly affected by hurricane Matthew in Haiti
- 546 dead people et 438 injured
- 1 410 907 people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
- Beyond this people, 839 627 are located in the Grand’Anse and Sud departments
- 5 100 cholera cases reported between 9 October and 5 November 2016
