Day: August 9, 2015

KPP-AMH 2015 Health Fair in Port-a-Piment, Haiti

On: By: potapiman

On Monday July 20th and Tuesday July 21st,  Konbit Pou Potapiman (KPP) hosted its 2015 Annual Health Fair, at the local hospital of Port-a-Piment, Haiti. As in the previous years, the Health Fair was conducted in collaboration with the Association des Medecins Haitiens (AMH), the local hospital staff and KPP volunteers.

A total of 403 individuals received free health checkups and free medicines. They were also enlightened on the importance of good sanitary and health habits.(AMH report-Port a Piment foire 2015)

This health fair was successful and had a much greater than expected turnout.  On the first day, patients from the rural sections of Port-a-Piment Guillaume, Pernele, Potus, Paricot, Dolian, Dupin etc were accommodated. On the second day, the residents of the town of Port-a-Piment came in great numbers to benefit from this Health Fair.

The process was well organized. . Admissions cards had been previously distributed around town and villages. Patients had their cards validated and got registered.  At the opening of the morning and the afternoon session, and in the waiting room, Dr Levelt Jean of the AMH held an educational session on good health habits, disease prevention and the importance of health checkups..   Every hour thereafter, a KPP member would remind patients about the importance of follow up care.

The fair accomplished what we hoped it would. We provided a great deal of medical information and had professionals available to answer questions on issues that might be of concern to the patients. We also aimed to motivate attendees to seek help at the local hospital when not feeling well.

Seven (7) Doctors. Five (5) nurses and several KPP Volunteers were at hand to offer their services.

The AMH doctors, Dr Eddy Jean Baptiste, Dr Levelt Jean, Dr Katiana Romelus, Dr Jean Richard Vital;   the local hospital doctors  Dr Missole Antoine and Dr Cadet Atsaly  teamed up with  Dr Dominique A Jean of Los Angeles, California to provide all the necessary care during the two days .

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We sincerely thank each of these dedicated doctors for the sacrifices made to come provide medical care to our brothers and sisters.

Our thanks go as well to the hospital administrator, Mr Jean Robert Isidore and his staff for the extraordinary support and dedication demonstrated during the two days.

To our sponsors especially, JGR C Copa LLC of Hollywood FL, Mrs. Marie-Therèse Boulos of PEHACHEVE, Haiti, Dr Dominique A Jean of California, Dr Jean-Claude Jacob of Florida , Mr and Mrs Lucien Jabouin of Florida, and to all those who supported the AMH on this project especially Laboratoire 4C, Famatrix and Prophalab agencies.

Renewed thanks to all the friends and supporters of KPP for their continued support in all we do.

 

 

On a Personal Note:

On: By: potapiman

I had the privilege, for the second year in a row, to participate in the Konbit Pou Potapiman (KPP) Health Fair in Port-a-Piment, Haiti.  Although I am an Anesthesiologist and a Pediatric Anesthesiologist by sub-specialty training; I took on the role of a general practitioner for two days.  Since Creole is not my native language, I had a wonderful translator to assist me.  I saw and examined many different types of patients, but the one thing that they had in common is that they were thankful for free medical care and medications.

I saw many patients who had a history of Anemia and suffered from complications of general malnutrition.  Time and time again, many women came in with infections consistent with bathing in local rivers or with untreated water.  Older patients have been dealing with chronic pain and fatigue.  Some patients had more serious ailments.  I had one elderly patient who came in with an enlarged abdomen, generalized swelling and abdominal pain.   These are the hallmarks of suspected liver disease.  Liver disease is one of the more complicated diseases for which we refer people to hospitals in Port Salut or Les Cayes for further treatment.

I, as well as the other volunteer physicians, mostly saw patients with chronic untreated common illnesses such as Hypertension and Diabetes.  Many patients had seen physicians in the past for these problems, but no longer took their medication due to financial hardship.  It was not unusual to see patients with blood pressures of 200/100!  Several patients came in complaining of chronic headache and almost every time, it was due to untreated high blood pressure.  In contrast to the United States, tropical diseases are prevalent in Haiti.  We saw patients who suffered from Malaria, Typhoid fever, Cholera, and even the mosquito borne illness of Chikungunya.

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to teach patients on being proactive about their health care.  I went over the importance of drinking and bathing in clean water.  I also discussed bringing old prescription bottles when seeing physicians, to help the doctors decipher a patient’s past medical history.  All in all, the KPP health fair was an eye opening and rewarding experience.  It was great to give back to this lovely community.

Dr. Dominique A. Jean

August 2015