Meet the Joseph family.
They are from Marmelade, in northern central Haiti. The children, Iverlanka and Maksendjy, pictured above, fell ill months ago. They were experiencing intermittent fever, weight loss, swelling, and general fatigue. They went to their nearest health center, but diagnostic capabilities there failed to identify the children’s illnesses. The situation was the same when they made the trek to Port-au-Prince to a health center near their family members’ home.
“We went all over the country to find care,” said father, Jean Baptiste. Ultimately, they were referred to HAS, renowned in Haiti for excellent pediatric services.
The HAS head of pediatrics, Dr. Maurice Toussaint, admitted the children and ran a series of diagnostic tests, including the routine lab tests for TB and a chest x-ray. Both children tested positive, though Maksendjy’s case was more advanced than his sister’s. To reduce the chance of further spread of disease, HAS tests all family members in addition to the patient(s) admitted. Dr. Toussaint monitored Maksendjy and Iverlanka’s progress carefully. After a month-long stay, the children were determined to be stable and were safely transferred.
“Before this, my son could hardly sleep or eat, but now he is getting better,” says Agnes happily. “The doctors are great here. This is the first time we’ve been to HAS but we felt welcome from the beginning.”
HAS is proud to be part of the fight against TB because of cases like this. Today and every day, we are spreading awareness about this curable disease and collaborating with our partners in Haiti to make high-quality healthcare accessible to all.
The average patient with TB remains at HAS more than twice as long as the average inpatient stay.
Education, testing, and treatment are provided free of charge to HAS patients with TB, representing a significant investment on the part of the hospital.
HAS treats an average of 120 TB patients every year.