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FROM THE FIELD

MAP Helps Save Children's LIves in Haiti
30 Jan 2009 16:39:00 GMT
 Source: Medical Assistance Programs (MAP) International - USA
MAP International

Website: Website: http://www.map.org

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MAP International is providing baby formula for children in Haiti.
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MAP International is providing baby formula for children in Haiti.
MAP International

Background

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She can't remember the baby's name. She can't remember exactly what day her father brought her in, complaining that her mother was sick with typhoid fever and unable to feed her. But she can remember helping the little girl.

"The father was very distressed," said Eva DeHart, who operates a medical clinic in Cap-Haitien, on the northern coast of Haiti. "He didn't know what to do."

But DeHart did. MAP International provides DeHart's clinic with enough baby formula to treat many of the infants that come into the clinic. And so she gave the father enough formula for his daughter to survive—and thrive—until she could begin eating solid food.

"The donation by MAP really saved this little girl's life," DeHart said. "And she is just one of many. So many young children in this country are in need of vital nutrition because their mothers have died or are unable to nurse them. So without this formula, they would die."

Haiti is the poorest county in the western hemisphere and most of its 9 million people suffer from the staggering economy, tattered infrastructure, poor sanitation and a crippled healthcare system. People typically can afford neither a doctor nor medications. The country is still reeling from a series of tremendous blows dealt by four violent hurricanes and other storms over the summer.

"It's really desperate down there," said DeHart, who is based in Florida. "And it's getting worse. It's worse than I have ever seen. Many people are not receiving the medical aid they need."

And that includes many infants. Mothers, many of them young, typically realize they can't afford to care for their newborns and will abandon them. Other mothers die in child birth or shortly thereafter due to any number of diseases. A lot of mothers are sick or are so malnourished they can't produce breast milk—"their bodies are working overtime just to sustain themselves," DeHart said. Therefore, infant formula, which is extremely expensive in Haiti, is critical.

"That's why the donations from MAP are so helpful," DeHart said. "There is an endless need for formula here. I don't know what we would do without it. I don't know what would happen to these children."

The clinic, which has just two exam tables and is staffed by four health professionals, sees about 500 patients a month, many of them children.

Michael Nyenhuis, president of MAP International, said he considers it vital to help bring health care to the Haitian people.

"Many Haitians, especially children, have suffered for generation after generation due to extreme poverty and a lack of proper medical care," he said. "For years, MAP has assisted them by providing millions of dollars of medication and nutritionals through partner agencies. Now, with the economy continuing to spiral downward and many people in Haiti out of work and with no access to health care, it is more important than ever that we provide them with the medicines and supplies necessary to receive critical medical care they would not otherwise have."


[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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