Just two weeks after the earthquake, Zanmi Lasante leveraged funding support from U.S. Agency for International Development Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance to set up health clinics to serve nearly 100,000 people living in four of the spontaneous settlements of homeless earthquake survivors that had sprung up in and around Port-au-Prince. Beyond these four camps, roughly a thousand more of these tightly-packed settlements, made up of make-shift tents and tarp-covered dwellings, have formed since January 12. They now serve as home to more than one million people whose houses were flattened, or badly damaged, by the earthquake. PIH/ZL’s four clinics operate eight hours a day, six days a week, and provide comprehensive primary health care and social support services—including maternal and child health, reproductive health care, HIV and tuberculosis testing, and malnutrition screening and treatment.
A team of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and lab technicians, as well as a nutrition program nurse, staffs each site. ZL has also trained and hired 60 local residents to serve as community health workers at each location, improving outreach into the settlements and providing jobs and income. The new community health workers support approximately 230 health care workers who are currently involved in our work at these clinics.
On average, the clinic sites have been testing and treating nearly 10,000 patients each week. The most common diseases and conditions treated include: diarrhea and gastrointestinal infections; malaria; coughs and respiratory infections; headaches; malnutrition; and urinary tract infections. PIH/ZL provides the necessary services and referrals to patients who require follow-up care, particularly for pregnant women and HIV-positive patients.
