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Additional Information:
Situation in Haiti

PAHO Working To Relieve Humanitarian Crisis in Haiti

Washington, DC, February 19, 2004 (PAHO)—The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is working to help relieve the humanitarian crisis in Haiti, coordinating the provision of medical supplies to hospitals in affected areas and strengthening support for the health system, according to PAHO officials.

The Organization, which has an office in Haiti, has sent additional experts to work with health system and non-government organization care providers, and has set up an emergency operations center in Port-au-Prince. A crisis committee has been created, training of health care providers has been organized in collaboration with the Red Cross, and supplies of medicine and equipment have been transported to Cap Haitien, PAHO officials said.

At an Inter-American Response meeting on Haiti, held at PAHO's emergency operations center in Washington yesterday, PAHO officials briefed representatives from France, the European Union, Bahamas, Haiti, Canada, the Organization of American States, the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, and the World Bank on the situation and actions taken.

PAHO has undertaken as assessment of needs in the main public and private hospitals, and its Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief Coordination experts are supporting the country in humanitarian crisis management. A project for epidemiological surveillance has been funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, along with the European Union's humanitarian aid office. PROMESS, the central pharmacy which has been supplying essential drugs for Haiti since 1992, is being strengthened and PAHO is working closely with the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, CARE, and other organizations to assure continuing supplies of medicaments.

Dr. Jean Luc Poncelet, head of PAHO's Program on Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief, said, "There is a need for strong humanitarian support to be implemented in respect of the existing structure. We have to provide assistance that specifically helps those in need without jeopardizing a number of small and fragile developing structures that are trying to emerge. Assistance provided through PAHO will be provided via the working structure. We hope to preserve the functioning structure and advocate for other health related entities to join forces."

PAHO's program is globally recognized for its integrated conception of prevention and risk reduction. In affected countries, the program also works with all sectors of society to address immediate problems created by natural disasters or humanitarian crises, such as reestablishing sanitary services and primary health care-as well as coping with medium and long-term effects.

The Pan American Health Organization, established in 1902, is the world's oldest public health organization, working with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and quality of life of their peoples and serving as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO).