A Successful First Day in Cap-Haitien, Haiti

Haiti has the highest incidence of cervical cancer of any country in the world. It is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere and has struggled with implementing cohesive population-wide health programs. This week’s trip marks CCC’s 3rd program in Haiti since 2013. We kicked-off our Cap Haitien program with a visit to the headquarters of our wonderful ground partner, International Medical Corp (IMC). There we met the IMC country director, Tracey Morgan, who has been a passionate advocate of bringing the “See and Treat” method of cervical cancer detection to the women of Haiti. We were presented with a slideshow summarizing the joint IMC/CCC activities that had been undertaken in preparation for our team’s visit.

Our ambitious goal for this week: To establish 11 new sustainable “See and Treat” clinics! Under the expert guidance of former CCC trainee and current CCC/IMC Director of cervical cancer screening in Haiti, Anne Marie Durosier, we were delighted to learn that training had already begun. 28 healthcare professionals from Ministry of Health (MOH) clinics in the North and Northeast Departments had already been recruited for intensive training sessions in preparation for our visit. Nurse Anne had presented our training material and educational lectures to the new trainees, demonstrated proper equipment use and successfully carried out preliminary “See and Treat” activities. She then verified their understanding by administering our written practical exams, which had been translated into French. As we proceed with our week of training, certification and establishing permanent, sustainable clinics, it is reassuring to know that our CCC/IMC trained nurses are so clearly capable of disseminating their knowledge to others. The next stop was the office of Director of the Health Department, Dr Ernst Robert Jasmin, who will be responsible for monitoring the activities of these 11 new clinics. He emphasized his dedication to integrating cervical cancer screening and treatment into the services offered at MOH clinics. Dr Jasmin expressed his profuse gratitude for our donated equipment and the educational component of our program. Next, the team revisited the previously established CCC/IMC clinic in the Bethesda Medical Center. We met 5 new nurses who had been actively involved with the clinic activities at Bethesda over the past few months. We monitored and tested their skills in VIA and cryotherapy, and in the end all 5 achieved CCC certification.

The CCC model is to establish sustainable clinics. A key factor in sustainability lies in “training the trainers,” thereby continuously expanding the number of “See and Treat” providers in a given region. Nurse Anne was a brilliant example of this principle today. Her passion and dedication is a rewarding indicator that the CCC/IMC approach is also fostering leadership and passion for our shared mission. There is so much hope and potential to improve women’s health and minimize the number of deaths from cervical cancer in Haiti. These devoted and caring nurses and doctors need our training and equipment in order to help their communities. We are grateful for their hard work and eager to continue supporting them.     Photo Credit: Yvonne Nong. Copyright © 2015 CureCervicalCancer All Rights Reserved.