The Unit of Studies and Programming (UEP) of the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) has released its annual statistical report for the year 2017. This 49-page report is structured according to the global list of 100 basic indicators of the World Health Organization (WHO). This report provides information on the population's access to health care, the state of health of the population, the performance of the main health programs and the availability of the country's health resources in terms of infrastructure, personnel and resources budget.

This report was developed from data collected at the level of health institutions. For the year 2017, the demographic data used to calculate certain indicators were estimated by the Ministry's UEP, based on projections from the Haitian Institute of Statistics and Informatics (IHSI) of 2007 and 2015.

The main results of the 2017 statistical report did not reveal any significant changes in the conditions and health status of the population compared to 2016. For basic health services, less than 50% of the population used them at least once, during the year. In addition, acute respiratory infections followed by high blood pressure and sexually transmitted infections remain the most frequently observed diseases.

In addition, diabetes continues to dominate the list of diseases under surveillance. As for vaccine-preventable diseases, a high number of confirmed cases of diphtheria have been recorded in the country, particularly in the departments of Artibonite and West (72 confirmed cases of diphtheria and 21 deaths reported). These two departments reported just over 80% of confirmed cases.

Regarding the state of health of the population, the results relating to the coverage of services have also not varied significantly. However, the utilization rate of Family Planning has increased significantly compared to the previous two years, from 12.3% in 2015 to 13.2% in 2016 and 21.0% in 2017.

In terms of health resources, the results indicated a large gap between the ratio of available health personnel in the country (6.3 staff per 10,000 population) and the WHO acceptable baseline. (25 staff per 10,000 inhabitants). At the financial level, a small part of the national budget is devoted to health, less than 1/3 of the 15% recommended by WHO.

In the light of the results of the 2017 statistical report, it is important not only to strengthen the quality and provision of health services, but also to make a more rational of health resources available to increase access and meet the basic health needs of the population.

Download the full report : https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/Rapport-Statistique-MSPP-2017.pdf

HL/ HaitiLibre