Haiti, One Year On: Delivering health care

Nurses from the IRC's Carrefour clinic in Port-au-Prince and a special IRC cholera response team have carried out education and prevention activities in 30 camps.

Photo: Susana Ferreira/IRC

Just before 5pm on January 12, 2010, a magnitude 7 earthquake struck Haiti about 10 miles southwest of the capital, Port-au-Prince.  It killed approximately 230,000 people and left another 1.3 million homeless. The International Rescue Committee quickly established emergency operations. In the last year, our mission has grown to include health care, child welfare, economic recovery and development, and programs to combat violence against women.

The IRC provides direct support to nearly 100,000 people in 30 camps.  This week we are sharing daily updates on one aspect of our work in Haiti. Today -- a snapshot of our work in public health:

•    Immediately following the quake, IRC health teams were deployed to the most devastated areas of Haiti where no other aid organizations were present and where outbreaks of disease were likely.

•    The IRC ran health clinics in Carrefour and Delmas, two hard-hit areas of Port-au-Prince.  The clinic’s staff has conducted 24,000 consultations, administered over 8,500 vaccinations and vitamin A doses, performed over 700 malaria tests, monitored over 3,400 children for malnutrition, and delivered prenatal care to over 750 women.

•    The Carrefour clinic has also served as a cholera treatment unit. Nurses from the clinic and a special IRC cholera response team have carried out education and prevention activities in 30 camps.
 

To learn more about the IRC's work in Haiti and how to help, visit our Crisis Watch report at Rescue.org/haiti.