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Links between Population, Health, and Environment in Haiti: Contributions to Vulnerability

This article explores the links between population, health, and environment in Haiti and their contributions to vulnerability, specifically during natural disasters. It discusses the population issues, health statistics, and environment issues in Haiti, as well as recommendations for strengthening policies and interventions in these areas.

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Links between Population, Health, and Environment in Haiti: Contributions to Vulnerability

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  1. Links between Population, Health, and Environment in Haiti: Contributions to Vulnerability Rochelle Rainey, Heather D’Agnes, and Scott Tobias August 2, 2006

  2. 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)

  3. Haiti’s Health Statistics

  4. 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%)

  5. 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

  6. PHE Links in Haiti Population Need more … Environment Fewer… Health Poor…

  7. 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)

  8. 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

  9. 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

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