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Links between Population, Health, and Environment in Haiti: Contributions to Vulnerability. Rochelle Rainey, Heather D’Agnes, and Scott Tobias August 2, 2006. Haiti’s Population Issues. Population Size: 8.4 Million (2006 Census) Fast Growing and Young ~2% annual population growth rate
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Links between Population, Health, and Environment in Haiti: Contributions to Vulnerability Rochelle Rainey, Heather D’Agnes, and Scott Tobias August 2, 2006
Haiti’s Population Issues Population Size: 8.4 Million (2006 Census) • Fast Growing and Young ~2% annual population growth rate Total fertility rate of 4.9 children per woman 50% of population is under the age of 20 • Urbanizing Urban population growth rate of 3.63 vs. 0.92% for rural Port-au-Prince metro area annual growth rate of 5% from 1982-2003 • Low income, 2/3 are subsistence farmers 80% of population below poverty line • High Unmet Need for Family Planning 40% of women expressed an unmet need Contraceptive prevalence rate 23% (modern methods)
Haiti’s Health Issues • Poor nutrition • Access to improved water source • Urban 91%, Rural 59% • Access to improved sanitation facility • Urban 52%, Rural 23% • Indoor air quality and use of traditional fuels • HIV prevalence ages 15-29: 5.6% (range 2.5%-11.9%)
Haiti’s Environment Issues • Deforestation • Soil Erosion • Reduced agricultural productivity • Landslides • Availability and quality of water • Last (of 147 ranked) on 2003 water poverty index (resource, access, capacity, use, environmental impact) • Heavy rainfall on exposed soils, flooding • Coastal and marine resources degraded • Biodiversity • High endemism • Highly threatened biodiversity hotspot
PHE Links in Haiti Population Need more … Environment Fewer… Health Poor…
PHE Contribution to Vulnerabilities during Natural Disasters • Slides and floods • Unplanned settlements on unstable hillsides and floodplains • Lack of access to water and sanitation • Contaminated floodwaters • Rural areas isolated • No excess capacity (no stored food or supplies)
Recommendations • Strengthen policy and donor attention on the linked population, health and environment dimensions of natural hazards in Haiti • Promote improvements in health and access to family planning as part of a national strategy that will also help reduce medium- and long-range vulnerability to natural disasters. • Target youth and urban poor populations • Strengthen supply chain
Recommendations • Where appropriate, integrate the provision of health and family planning information and services with interventions to conserve natural resources, both forest and coastal • Introduce programs for improved cookstoves along with intensive behavior change communications for adoption • Promote adoption of nutritious foods and sustainable agricultural techniques • Strengthen the capacity for emergency environmental health response to a disaster • Use existing community organizations to integrate activities through cross training, build local government capacity