I just got back from 2 weeks on the Haitian island of La Gonave. We have a longstanding exchange established between our community in Idaho and several communities there. Last year, a few months after their earthquake, I visited for the first time, carrying medical supplies and planning on delivering care to the injured and ill. In fact there were very few injured and ill, partly due to the fact that La Gonave is very rural and few houses were occupied at the time of the quake. The other important fact was that this part of Haiti, with few if any medical providers, does not support sick or injured people very well and so they either die or recover. This visit was primarily to study their medical resources, beliefs, health concerns, and to advocate for better sanitation practices and water antisepsis. I was unable to resist bringing medications and supplies, and also stuffed my suitcase with condoms to hand out like candy. Community organizing around effective ways to use their...
The cost of health care in the US is higher than anywhere else in the world, and yet we are not healthier than our peer nations. In fact, in terms of such measures as infant mortality and life span, we don't measure up. Why is this? Many people involved in providing or receiving care have some pretty good ideas about what costs so much, and what we can do to reduce costs and improve quality. Sharing these stories is an important step in creating affordable universal health care.