Hundreds of women screened on Women’s Health Day in Haiti

The Haitian Times
www.haitiantimes.com 
By Murdith Joseph       

PORT-AU-PRINCE — A social assistance organization screened hundreds of women for cervical cancer and other conditions to mark International Day of Action for Women’s Health in Haiti.

At the Union for Haiti (LPH) mobile clinic on May 28 in Girardo, Pétion-Ville, about 200 women from numerous Port-au-Prince area towns had arrived by 11 am. They were screened for cervical cancer and vaginal infections, and received medicines and birth control pills. The women also received a package each of rice, beans, oil and other food items.

“The mobile clinic has a positive impact on women who do not have access to health care,” said Guirlène Boucicaut, coordinator of LPH. “Some of the results…showed that several women have problems in their cervixes.”

Free mobile clinics represent a relief for many in Haiti because a lot of residents are not able to pay for healthcare in hospitals or it is not available in their neighborhoods. An increase in strikes in hospitals recently have also prevented them from fully functioning.

“We are doing our best to come to support the most vulnerable,” Bourcicaut said. “It’s not an easy task, we are doing everything ourselves with no support or funds.”