As relief efforts continue in Haiti, TOPHC – in partnership with Roche Canada – hosted a feature breakfast that highlighted the ongoing public health crisis in Haiti.
Fayola Creft, an emergency management specialist with the OAHPP, showed a video that highlighted a collection of her snapshots and video streams of Haiti just 10 days after the earthquake happened. Creft, who spent 4 days in transit trying to get there, ended up working in the pediatric ward of a hospital, wearing many hats – as she said, “from delivering babies to dressing wounds.”
We spoke with Creft after her video was played.
What should we know about Haiti and the ongoing crisis there?
“Haiti, in general, will always be in a recovery phase. It’s been a struggling country forever. It will take a very long time to recover from the earthquake.”
She noted many of the implications health-wise, notably “a cholera epidemic that continues, indicides of malnutrition, normal third world health conditions that effect the population, no job security and no health education for young mothers and babies.”
What are some of the ‘global lessons’ from Haiti’s crisis, and the Red Cross efforts there?
"We need to consider a Global approach to disaster response and preparedness. The Red Cross has been in Haiti for a long time. They have they have an established relationship with those on the ground - and they connect with all of the Red Cross movement globally. They know how to respond to disasters as a whole. They’ve been implementing programs with established experiences and responses."
What would you say is your main ‘takeaway’ from this?
"Successful responses to emergencies involve preparedness. It can’t be done on the fly. Response mechanisms have to be established before a crisis.
“It’s our human nature to take care of each other, but success comes from being prepared.”
We encourage you to support the Integrated Health Program for Haiti by making a donation to the Canadian Red Cross at www.redcross.ca/TOPHC.
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