Haiti
We work with Haiti’s government and local partners to increase COVID-19 vaccinations and improve COVID-19 data collection in five states.
MOMENTUM is partnering with nearly 40 countries to accelerate progress and advance USAID’s work to save lives and improve health outcomes for women, children, families, and communities in all of their diversity. MOMENTUM brings together specialized technical and country expertise through six distinct yet integrated awards with the depth and breadth of experience to spur reductions in maternal, newborn, and child mortality and morbidity.
MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity is working across five Haitian departments—Artibonite, Nord, Nord-Est, Nord-Ouest, and Sud—to increase demand for COVID-19 vaccines and help effectively track COVID-19 vaccination data. MOMENTUM has also supported the development of Haiti’s COVID-19 National Deployment and Vaccination Plan.
Increasing Demand for COVID-19 Vaccines
By March 2023, only 3.6 percent of Haiti’s population had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.1 Political and social unrest, security threats, logistical challenges, an earthquake, and high levels of vaccine hesitancy have all contributed to this low vaccination rate.2 MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity is working with community leaders, community-based organizations, health workers, and subnational health authorities to increase demand for COVID-19 vaccines by tailoring its activities to the context of each of the five project-supported departments. MOMENTUM explores opportunities for collaboration with various local and national entities to generate vaccine demand among a range of communities and populations, including young people, women, and older people.
Tracking COVID-19 Vaccination Data
In a number of departments across Haiti, COVID-19 vaccination sites remain un- or under-supervised, leaving room for error when it comes to data collection. Consequently, COVID-19 vaccination data quality and completeness has degraded. In response to this situation, MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity works with Haiti’s Unit of Evaluation and Planning at the Ministry of Public Health and Population and the Country Health Information Systems and Data Use Program to address the backlogs of data to be entered into Haiti’s digital data platform and analyze vaccine stock data. MOMENTUM has also assessed how each department in Haiti manages its data and identified common needs and activities to address them, like training personnel to interpret and analyze COVID-19 vaccination data and providing stable wi-fi connections. We also coordinate data analysis and use activities by working jointly with the Ministry of Public Health and Population to establish COVID-19 emergency operations centers at the departmental and national levels.
MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity: Ministry of Public Health and Population, National Coordination Unit for Immunization Programs, Unit of Evaluation and Planning, Institut Panos, Institut pour la Santé, la Population et le Développement, and Communications and Public Relations Unit
Interested in partnering with us or learning more about our work in Haiti? Contact us here or check out our regional reference brief.
Learn more about USAID’s work in Haiti.
References
- Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. “Haiti.” https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/region/haiti. Accessed June 30, 2023.
- Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). “COVID-19: Increasing Vaccination Coverage in Haiti through Community Outreach.” September 2022. https://www.paho.org/en/stories/covid-19-increasing-vaccination-coverage-haiti-through-community-outreach
Last updated February 2024.