MEASURE Evaluation in Haiti

With ongoing earthquake recovery efforts and the inauguration of a new president in May 2011, Haiti continues to be in a state of transition. Organizations and individuals in Haiti’s private and public sectors have come together to respond to the country’s needs and remain committed to improving difficulties that afflict this Caribbean nation.

In addition to high poverty rates, poor health indicators, and unequal access to services among Haitians, Haiti is still recovering from the 2010 earthquake that affected so much of the country, including the capital city of Port au Prince. The earthquake killed up to 250,000 people and rendered more than one million homeless. HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, such as malaria and a post-earthquake cholera outbreak, put the health and lives of Haitians at further risk. 

Nevertheless, Fanor Joseph and Gerald Lerebours, MEASURE Evaluation’s resident advisors in Haiti, see a lot of positive progress taking place in the country.

“Good things are happening,” Joseph said. “We have gone through a peaceful democratic transition, and everyone is committed to ensuring that the people of Haiti can continue to move forward.”

MEASURE Evaluation in Haiti

MEASURE Evaluation began working in Haiti in 2001. Joseph and Lerebours lead activities from their in-country office in Port au Prince, where efforts have shifted focus in response to the earthquake.

Prior to the earthquake, MEASURE Evaluation’s primary focus was improving Haiti’s routine health information systems (RHIS). MEASURE Evaluation provided technical assistance to Haiti’s Ministry of Health in this effort, with an emphasis on strengthening the quality, use, and management of data. 

“This has been one of our major successes,” said Lerebours. “Now, when the Ministry of Health needs information, it can just look through the database.”

MEASURE Evaluation also collaborated with Haiti’s Ministry of Health and other partners to develop a community-based information system (CBIS) for HIV programs, designed to improve the effectiveness of HIV programs throughout the country. Joseph and Lerebours consider the creation and management of the CBIS (started before the 2010 earthquake) to be another of MEASURE Evaluation’s major successes.

As these activities progressed, MEASURE Evaluation’s assistance was used to assist with transferring the information functions to local non-governmental organizations (NGOs). 

Following the earthquake on January 12, 2010, the project’s immediate priorities shifted. Among other post-earthquake undertakings, MEASURE Evaluation provided staff at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta with an epidemiological profile of Haiti, and helped the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services compile a master list showing the post-earthquake status of health facilities—with staffing needs and GPS coordinates, for example—in Port au Prince. This list was also posted on Google Maps so that other people could help in the relief effort. 

MEASURE Evaluation also worked with the Ministry of Public Health and Population to update epidemiological surveillance data from the health statistical information system (HSIS) database, produced tables and graphics to display post-disaster data, assessed the status of community-level HIV service and support organizations, and participated in national post-disaster health information coordination meetings. 

Since the earthquake, MEASURE Evaluation has continued to work on some of the activities that were underway before January 2010, including the routine health information system and community-based information system. However, the aftermath of the earthquake will have a long-term effect on MEASURE Evaluation’s (as well as other organizations’) work in Haiti, and will require ongoing participation in specific disaster recovery activities, such as post-earthquake surveillance.

“Each Monday and Thursday, we attend a meeting on surveillance data,” Joseph explained. “These meetings provide an opportunity to share and analyze data, and we do the data analysis.”

Recently, the Haitian Ministry of Health and U.S. Government partner organizations asked MEASURE Evaluation to assist in rebuilding and strengthening the national health monitoring information system (HMIS), including the integration of emergency response and recovery modules. 

Moving forward, MEASURE Evaluation’s work will maintain a focus on information system strengthening, with renewed emphasis on emergency health information, strengthening of the epidemiological surveillance system, building information system capacity at the Ministry of Health, strengthening information system capacity to assess the functionality of health service delivery points, and working to web-enable Haiti’s HSIS.