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