Support to the Haitian health system in the context of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a considerable challenge for the Haitian health system, which cannot address the crisis independently due to lack of health facilities, equipment, qualified human resources, and basic services. With funds from the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) and informed by Doctors of the World (DoTW) experience supporting the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) and improving access and quality healthcare services for vulnerable communities in Haiti, DoTW is implementing the Support to the Haitian health system in the context of COVID-19 project. The project is a 6-month response to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Haiti and support the continuity of access to basic health services for the most vulnerable population in the departments of the West and Nippes. DoTW aims to support the MSPP infection, prevention and control (IPC) activities while ensuring the continuity of essential health services such as primary health care (PHC), sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and psychosocial support (PSS). The project targets the communes of Martissant and Cité Soleil in Port-au-Prince which concentrate high risk of COVID-19 and a very marginalized population; the Goavienne region where a lot of people commute to Port-au-Prince daily and the Nippes department which lacks actors for the response and faces strong negation from the population toward COVID-19. The project is implemented in coordination with the health authorities (MSPP, West and Nippes Sanitary Departments and health institutions), the stakeholders of the COVID-19 response (PAHO / WHO, World Bank, ECHO, etc.), the humanitarian architecture in Haiti (OCHA, health cluster, international and national NGOs) as well as the communities, their representatives and the community-based organizations of Cité Soleil and Nippes.