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Comparing The health of Haiti and the United states

Below are some data sets that may help grasp the health needs of Haiti, in comparision to the United States. Take a look at the stark differences between the top two boxes of heatlh indicators of the two countries. Scroll to the bottom for some further analysis of the differences and risk factors particular to Haiti.

Haiti's Health indicators

US Health indicators

  1. Life expectancy at birth: Women: 65, Men: 61 (CDC)

  2. Infant mortality: 42 (CDC)

  3. Neonatal Mortality Rate: 25 (UNICEF)

  4. Child Mortality Rate: 67 (CDC)

   5. Maternal Mortality Rate: 633 (UNICEF)

  1. Life expectancy at birth: 79 (WHO)

  2. Infant mortality: 5.9 (CDC)

  3. Neonatal Mortality Rate: 3.7 (UNICEF)

  4. Child Mortality Rate: 8 (WHO)

   5. Maternal Mortality Rate: 25 (WHO)

https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternalinfanthealth/infantmortality.htm and http://www.who.int/gho/countries/usa.pdf?ua=1 and https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-survival/neonatal-mortality/

Causes of Death

U.S. Causes of Death

In Haiti, the leading causes of death, per Worldatlas.com were: 

1. Stroke 12%

2. Lower Respiratory Infections  8.6%

3. HIV/AIDS  8.3%

4. Ischemic Heart Disease 6.3%

5. Diarrheal Disease  5.1%

6. Diabetes  4.9%

7. Interpersonal Violence  3.8%

8. Preterm Birth Complications  3.1%

9. Tuberculosis  2.8%

10. Birth Asphyxia & Trauma  2.5%

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/leading-causes-of-death-in-haiti.html 

In the United States, the leading causes of death, per the Centers for Disease Control were: 

1. Cardiovascular disease

2. Cancer

3. Unintentional Injuries

4. Chronic lower respiratory diseases

5. Stroke

6. Alzheimer's disease

7. Diabetes

8. Influenza and Pneumonia

9. Kidney disease 

10. Suicide

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db293.htm

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Risk factors

After a review of the above lists of death rates and causes of death, one may wonder why Haiti has such high rates of mortality. There are several reasons, quite honestly there may be too many reasons to fully explore in the space of a single semester's research. However, the following seem to be highest on the list of probable causes of increased death and disease. 

 

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*Lack of government resources, coordination, and attention to health, sanitation, and sewage  of the country (Hersher, 2017) 

*Power struggles over use of land for purposes of water treatment and sewage diposal (Hersher, 2017) 

*Poor water quality (CDC)

*Low hygiene education levels (CDC)

*Endemic Cholera (ALMAGRO-MORENO, S., & TAYLOR, R. K., 2013)

*HIV/AIDS (CDC)

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