PAHO Director calls for intensified health response in Haiti to reverse rapidly deteriorating COVID conditions

PAHO is assisting with vaccine delivery, scaled up testing, and increased PPE for health workers. Elsewhere in the Caribbean and Latin America, pandemic accelerates.

Washington, D.C., June 2, 2021 (PAHO) Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director Carissa F. Etienne warned that the COVID-19 response in Haiti must be scaled up dramatically to cope with sharply escalating cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in recent weeks.

“We call on partners and organizations working in Haiti to urgently reinforce the response to COVID-19,” Dr. Etienne said at her weekly media briefing. “The country will need additional health capacity, as well as support to embrace preventive measures required to curb transmission. Both will be decisive in the coming weeks. There is no time to waste.”

PAHO is working with Haiti’s Ministry of Public Health and Population to scale up care for infected people and increase supplies of protective equipment for health workers. PAHO is collaborating to reduce transmission through increased testing, which allows for identification and isolation of infected people.

PAHO will also facilitate the upcoming delivery of the first doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to Haiti. The vaccines were procured through COVAX, the global alliance to ensure equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

“A very high priority is to offer vaccination to all frontline health workers over 18 years of age,” Dr. Etienne said.

She explained that the increased transmission is likely fueled by two variants of concern, (B 1.1.7 and P1) and because public health measures are “being largely ignored by the general population. The situation we’re seeing in Haiti is a cautionary tale in just how quickly things can change with this virus.”

Turning to conditions in the rest of the Caribbean and Latin America, Dr. Etienne reported that rapidly increasing cases and deaths have nearly doubled in the first five months of the year. “Wishful thinking will not resolve this crisis,” she warned. “We need action.”

She said regional leadership must be united around stopping the virus. “This pandemic has taught us time and again that leadership determines the effectiveness of a country’s response. Sadly, across our region we’ve seen misinformation about COVID-19 sow doubt on proven health measures, often in the context of political disputes.”

Access to vaccines urgently needs to increase, Dr. Etienne said. COVAX has already delivered 17.6 million doses to the region, but the quantity is not nearly enough. Some low-income countries are struggling to cover even their health workers and most vulnerable populations, she said.

“Effective vaccines are a beacon of hope in this crisis, and we must do all in our power to secure more doses for all nations in the Americas,” she said. “Regional solidarity, including the donation of vaccine doses, will be key to get us through the current shortage of supply,” she continued.

And everyone must adhere to public health measures such as wearing masks, social distancing, and washing hands. Increased mobility between and within countries and relaxation of the measures have created the “perfect environment” for the spread of the virus and its variants, Dr. Etienne said.

“PAHO is doing and will continue to do its part to support the response to the pandemic in the Americas, grounded in science and solidarity,” she said. “But we can’t do this alone. We need leaders to prioritize the decisions required to stop this virus in its track.”

She also addressed the pandemic’s toll in the past week. Cases and deaths have begun rising in Central and South America and the Caribbean after plateauing or decreasing for weeks.

Central America is reporting the highest number of deaths. Infections are increasing in Panama, Belize, and El Salvador, where new cases have doubled in the last seven days.

In South America, Colombia is reporting the highest rate of infections in South America. Brazil is also seeing a rise in new infections and hospitalizations. Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile continue to report a rise in cases.

Many Caribbean islands, including Sint Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago and the Dominican Republic, are reporting a surge in infections.

Over the last week, countries in the Americas reported 1.1 million new COVID-19 cases and over 25,000 deaths.