Risk Factors

Haiti has been plagued by chronic violence, political turmoil, and natural disasters throughout its history. In fact, just recently, the country faced a major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2, and the tropical storm Grace along with the COVID-19 pandemic causing numerous death and widespread damage("2021 Haiti Earthquake", 2021). Moreover, even the Haiti president, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated last July which puts them in the verge of chaos ("Haiti president's assassination", 2021).

 

Consequently, the country had problems building and sustaining strong public systems including a health system that has adequate staff, medical supplies, along with infrastructures in order to fulfill the needs of the most secluded and marginalized communities ("Haiti", 2021).

 

In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that within 80% of the Haitian population are living below poverty line and below half of the population has access to clean water.  They also report that "only 43% of the Haitian population receives the correct immunizations," and so, several preventable diseases often cause deaths. All in all, the extreme poverty, malnutrition, poor health infrastructure, limited access to clean water, poor hygiene, insufficient knowledge, and lack of accessible healthcare and skilled medical professionals contribute to the high rate of mortality in Haiti (Findlay, 2017).