CERVICAL CANCER DETECTION AND TREATMENT

Haiti has one of the world’s highest cervical cancer rates because it has no way to screen and treat rural, poor women.​ The Pap smear that we take for granted is costly and logistically difficult here. HHP's solution is VIA/Cryo, or see and treat.

       

All it takes is vinegar, a headlamp and a trained eye to detect precancerous cervical tissue that can be treated with cryotherapy at the same visit.

       

When we started doing this in 2013, 99% of the women had never been screened. Over 7% had positive results. Thanks to HHP, nurses across Southeast Haiti have been trained in the VIA/Cryo technique at four Ministry of Health clinics in the Arrondissement of Belle-Anse.   

       

Ede Tèt Nou 

HHP staff launched this program in 2018 to teach women self-exams for breast cancer and bring cervical cancer detection and treatment to women in the most remote corners of our region. Using state-of-the-art HPV self-testing and thermocoagulation as well as self-breast exams with ultrasound backup, HHP has screened and treated 1,600 women across the Southeast Department, with a 23% positivity rate. In 2026, a generous donor provided us with the funds to have our  lab process HPV self-tests, on site at our clinic.  Ede Tèt Nou 2 is being launched this year, reaching over a thousand women with this new technology. 

 

SAFE BIRTHING PRACTICES     

 

​Ann Bay Lavi Jaret (ABLJ)   HHP midwife Ruth Lefleur heads this program that has trained 18 traditional birth-attendants (matwòn) and community health workers in three remote regions in our zone over a period of 24 months. Groups of six matwòn attended a five-month course that meets once a week and covers the basic principles of hygiene, safe birth practices, and recognition of high-risk conditions in pregnancy. Community health workers representing the three regions attend trainings on promoting family planning among their constituents.

       

Our current phase supports midwife Ruth and 18 matwòn as they make prenatal and postnatal home visits to each pregnant woman who are unable to travel to the clinic. Often this entails hours of travel by motorcycle and on foot. Together they observe the pregnancy’s progression, initiate a treatment plan and collect data for evaluating outcomes. They monitor an average of 15 births per month in the countryside.

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KONBIT MANMAN TIMOUN

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"Mother-child Team" is a program funded by Americares that was launched in 2025, expanding outreach services for mothers and

children and encouraging the use of our birth center. It provides weekly mobile clinics in remote regions for

12 weeks, and engages in promotional activities to encourage women to use our birth center. A second year is underway, addressing common barriers to adequate maternal-child healthcare, such as remote terrain, poverty, lack of transportation, and health education deficits. 

KMT 2 incorporates the lessons learned from KMT 1 with new strategies to enhance the provision of

maternal/child health in our region, increase the use of our birth center, and bring the number of

prenatal visits per mother closer to the WHO recommendations.