Allies to Haiti during COVID-19 Pandemic

“HEAL is our baby,” Susan Partovi, MD.

The pandemic has forced the world to re-examine and prioritize.  H.E.A.L. is committed to and sticks by our “baby,” the village of Mussott and our long time translators, who are our family at this point.  We (the American doctors)  were unable to visit Haiti this year physically.  May 2020 was our anticipated time to be in Mussott. May 2020, of course, was during the heart of the pandemic in both California and Pennsylvania.  It was unclear at that point if the virus had reached Haiti yet.  However, we continue to support, communicate, and remotely manage what we have created, the “baby” of healthcare in an impoverished county. 

As one would anticipate, Haiti has limited resources and limited testing ability.  According to an article in the New England Journal in July,(1.), they began seeing an uptick in COVID-19 infections.  June and within one week, the cases increased fivefold.  Of course, they are a  high-risk population due to the same vulnerabilities as everything. Their extreme poverty, poor access to healthcare and testing, malnutrition, superstitious cultural belief patterns all add up to a problematic response to a global crisis.   Plus, the symptoms can mimic malaria and TB, which are ever-present in Haiti.  The message from this hospital group in PAP was, “you are on your own.”  No support is coming in from the US or other wealthier nations as the world is learning to deal with 10% of the world’s population getting ill from the same disease and the societal costs that have led to our lives upended.  

1. July 2, 2020

N Engl J Med 2020; 383:e4

DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc2021362

Despite Haiti’s usual chaos, our non-profit organization H.E.A.L. (Health Care, Empowerment, Advocacy, and Learning),  remains a calm stream of steady support and dedication.  The clinic in the mountain town of Mussott, our second home, is seeing patients regularly.  Dr. Fanfan has been treating hypertension, diabetes, urinary tract infections, colds, pneumonia in the kids, back pain, and low back pain.  It is fun to see that primary care looks the same wherever you go.  The challenge in Haiti is always the limitation of resources.  We send quarterly funding, but the clinic’s communication this month is that the medications don’t always last for the three-month intervals that we provide.  

We have also branched out in supporting our dedicated translators.  Carlos Eugene has taken on leadership roles in creating a school that teaches English and dancing.  He has become a community organizer and helps pick up trash on the street with the local kids, which was rewarded with a Christmas party this year, bringing smiling faces.  Finally, he is supporting single mothers by training them to sew.  Mussott and sewing single mothers’ worlds met as we helped Carlos provide the needed masks in Mussott by sewing them in with his workgroup in PAP and then delivering them to the mountain town.  

It has not been perfect.  The world is messy right now and is always a mess in Haiti.  But we take heart that these are people’s lives. We are proud that HEAL has bolstered lives and reduced suffering in this beautiful island that is so often left behind. 

Given the pandemic, we will not be having our annual fundraiser, and if we go in the spring, it will be a small group. We have fully committed to continuing to provide for the health care needs in Mussott.

Please consider contributing to continue to supply medications, employment, and to support Haiti.  You can donate on our website www.weareheal.com.

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Elaine Goldhammer, MD and Susan Partovi, MD

Co-CEO’s and Co-Founders H.E.A.L.

Bringing Healthcare to the World's Most Vulnerable Children & Adults

Our most basic human obligation is to care for 100% of our planet.  As physicians and practitioners, we must particularly care for the neediest half of our world. We have a duty to help those suffering and no one suffers more than those who languish in poverty.    We strive to bring quality health care, dignity, strength, knowledge and power to the places that the rest of the world seems to have ignored.  

What is happening in 2019

• Continue to bring treatment for Malaria, Worms, Anemia, Hypertension, Early Cervical Cancer, H.Pylori, Birth Control, Toothbrushes, Arthritis, Asthma, Heart Disease, eye glasses

• Foster Leadership and Clinical Skills in the Medical Students while encouraging their work in Poverty Medicine

• The Fanfan year round clinic is up and running and a success! Patients are now getting routine healthcare run by Haitian Doctors, thanks to your donations

• Help build and fund the year round clinic run by Haitian Doctors and members of the community