Image
Injustice has a cure
Investing in Families’ Health and Rights
Caring for women and children is foundational to Zanmi Lasante’s work. Healthy women are best positioned to safeguard their own health and well-being as well as that of their families and communities. And good health at an early age is critical to an individual’s ability to not just survive but thrive.
Death from pregnancy or childbirth is of particular concern: Haiti’s maternal mortality rate of 529 deaths per 100,000 births is the highest in the western hemisphere. Other “stupid deaths,” as Dr. Paul Farmer would say, are also common—mortality from preventable and treatable conditions like diarrhea or high blood pressure.
At 17 public health facilities across central Haiti, Zanmi Lasante partners with the Ministry of Health to offer a full spectrum of health services at no cost to women and their families, including:
- Early childhood vaccinations
- Screening and treatment for deadly pediatric diseases: diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis
- Preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV
- Malnutrition screening and treatment
- Mental health care
- Social support for orphaned children and vulnerable families
- Sexual health and family planning care
- Gender-based violence advocacy and care
- Prenatal care in hospitals and maternal waiting homes
- Safe deliveries in health care facilities or with skilled birth attendants
- Postnatal care and well baby visits
- Breast and cervical cancer screening and treatment
Our goal is to not only make these services high-quality, but also accessible, knowing that some families will continue to struggle to get to clinics and hospitals. Our staff of nearly 2,400 community health workers—all Haitian, half of them women—visit communities and households to screen patients for illnesses, accompany them to health facilities for care, and provide instructional and therapeutic support through treatment. And our clinicians and program managers provide community-based programs and mobile clinics to provide services like family planning, HIV testing, and psychosocial care directly where patients live.
Transforming health care in Haiti by prioritizing women and children
Women's Cancer Care
Your $2,000 investment could cover the full cost of a woman’s cancer care, from diagnosis to chemotherapy treatments, supported throughout by oncologists, nurses, and social workers.
Journey to 9 Program
Your $10,000 investment could enable 10 mothers and newborns to complete our proven Journey to 9 Program, encompassing prenatal and pediatric care, postpartum family planning, and home visits from community health workers.
Malnutrition Treatment
Your $21,000 investment could fund a full cycle of malnutrition treatment for 100 children.
Meet Martha Cassemond
Martha Cassemond was 12 years old when she visited the Zanmi Lasante-supported hospital in Cange, Haiti, with a painful, swollen abdomen. Biopsy results revealed she had a rare form of leukemia. The prognosis was grim, as the treatment she needed was extremely expensive and unavailable locally—until Zanmi Lasante and partner the Max Foundation stepped in to obtain and supply the pills that would save Martha’s life.
Thirteen years later, Martha remains in good health and lives in Mirebalais, a stone’s throw from University Hospital, with her partner and 2-year-old son. She is a resource and pillar of support for her community, advising friends and family to visit the doctor if they fall ill and serving as living proof that a cancer diagnosis doesn’t have to be a death sentence, regardless of poverty or geography.
Ways to Give
Wire Transfer
Image
For information on making an electronic transfer, please complete our online form.
Check
Image
Please mail to:
800 Boylston Street,
Suite 300,
Boston, MA 02199.
Image
Image
