Make a Difference with Just $1
An expectant mother, Jocelyne, shudders with chills on a sweltering Haitian afternoon, physically unable to care for her other young children. She has contracted malaria, a dangerous disease which all too often kills pregnant women and children in Haiti.
Fortunately for Jocelyne, pregnant women and children receive top priority for assistance at the six remote health centers at Hôpital Albert Schweitzer Haiti (HAS).
She will receive medicine to treat malaria as well as training to protect her children from this deadly disease. With HAS's preventive services, which include the distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets, non-harmful insecticides, and inexpensive medicines, she will be back to taking care of her children and new baby in a few weeks.
Last year the Carter Center (a non-governmental organization advancing worldwide health and peace) urged the eradication of malaria in all of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. HAS responded to the call and is now collaborating with the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine to study patterns of malaria in rural Haiti. With Tulane University's help, the most strategic and efficient anti-malarial treatment methods will be organized and put into action.
An estimated 10,000 patients are treated for malaria based solely on symptoms, due to a shortage of qualified laboratory personnel in rural Haiti. However, a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) can be easily administered and interpreted at HAS' health centers without laboratory analysis. At the low cost of only $1.00 per test, RDTs can provide expedited treatment to the residents of HAS' service area. HAS hopes to raise $10,000 in the next month to provide RDTs in time for the 2009 malaria season. With your support, HAS can continue fighting to eradicate this deadly disease.
Not long ago, Jocelyne might have lost her life to malaria, and her children would have become orphans. She and her family are now at a crossroads of preventative health care in one of the poorest countries in the world. They need your help today.
Please help HAS with its efforts to stop the scourge of malaria in Haiti by donating now at:
http://www.hashaiti.org/C1a_w1.html