Health and well-being in Haiti

"Early lessons in global health from Haiti" is my post on KevinMD regarding health and progress in rebuilding Haiti. I offer here a few additional notes on Haiti.

Hispaniola includes Haiti and the Dominican Republic

Watch this clip of Nou Bouke an Emmy Award winning documentary offering a close up view of Haiti with Edwidge Danticat narrating. Her latest book, Create Dangerously is on my reading list. 

Nou Bouke: Two years later from The Miami Herald on Vimeo.

Nou Boke translates from Creole loosely into "I'm Tired" thanks to the translation in the documentary by Jacqueline Charles. This is a glimpse of the situation from the ground with voices and scenes from Haiti directed by Joe Cardona and photography director Jose Iglesias. The other clip is a about local schools raising funds to help rebuild Haitian school. The children raised $500K and classrooms are reopening.


A few tweets also offer updates on progress, health and well-being in Haiti: 

In this video, you can see our new 120-bed hospital being built in #Haiti, where access to healthcare is still lacking. bit.ly/xWfPFd

— Doctors w/o Borders (@MSF_USA) January 20, 2012

Haiti Quake Efforts Were Hampered by Poor Information Sharing - bit.ly/zqvsxl

— PAHO/WHO (@pahowho) January 15, 2012

#Haiti2year Oxfam has reached +1.2M ppl w/water, sanitation, food & public health promotion: our 2 Yr Report oxf.am/oYU

— Oxfam International (@Oxfam) January 12, 2012

#Cholera is still affecting children in #Haiti. Read @thelancet ‘s article to find out more ow.ly/8qf8U#stopcholera

— UNICEF (@UNICEF) January 11, 2012

Learn more about the “Call to Eliminate Cholera in Hispaniola” from @CDCGlobal, @pahowho, & @UNICEF go.usa.gov/R9o

— CDC Global Health (@CDCGlobal) January 12, 2012

UNDP chat: Human Development Index and the Determinants of Health

Chat with UNDP Administrator Helen Clark on the release of the 2011 Human Development Index and Report

"Sustainable human development is the expansion of the substantive freedoms of people today while making reasonable efforts to avoid seriously compromising those of future generations."

The 2011 Human Development Index (HDI) and Report is driven by indicators of life expectancy, education and gross national income data as a single statistic in both social and economic development.

The HDI includes187 countries.

A World Health Organization working-group, the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) recognizes the visible role of health inequities found in social gradients around the world related to where people are born, grow, learn, work, play and age.   Social and economic factors in everyday life influence health and well-being. CDSH has global reach and calls attention to root-causes of disease and illness including those factors beyond the health sectors. Here's a glimpse of the CSDH conceptual framework:

A global health equity empowers a framework for healtha and well-being in society. The Human Development Index offers additional supporting data on the social determinants of health. 

Reference:

Marmot M, Allen J, Bell R, Goldblatt P. Building of the global movement for health equity: from Santiago to Rio and beyond. The Lancet 2011,19 October 2011:10.1016/S0140-6736(11)61506-7