Health Plan for Haiti
Haiti has a population of approximately ten million people. According to the 2009 WHO statistics, the gross national income per capita was $1.220. The life expectancy at birth in terms of years for females and males is 64/61 respectively. In 1000 births (children under five years), 76 children have s probability of dying. In a population of 1000 people, 223 females and 258 males have a probability of dying when between the ages of 15 and 60 years. The 2011 statistics indicate that Haiti's total expenditure per capita was $94. Besides, the total expense on health as a GDP percentage was eight. With such statistics, solid and effective health plans should be put in place. This is a suggested health plan for the oral health of children below the age of twelve years.
Although oral health may seem as though it is not a serious health challenge as other health problems, ignoring it may lead to the emergence of other dependent health challenges. Estupin-a-n-Day, Lafontant and Acun-a, (2011) showed that the observance of proper oral health among children was to be prioritized in the elimination of recurrent health problems in calamity-prone Haiti. These authors continue to put across strategies that can be incorporated into the government initiated plans in order to handle the oral health challenge among children.
The first strategy is to equip many people with health information related to oral health (Babcock et al., 2012). This includes equipping the already existing medical practitioners and healthcare givers. It is evident that Haiti runs shortage of medical personnel. Training new personnel would be a fundamental step towards handling oral healthcare in the country. Equipping the relevant parties with knowledge is one of the key steps of eliminating any form of challenge whether heath related or otherwise (Estupin-a-n-Day, Lafontant,...
This is not only limited to training the parents or guardians of the children, but it should also be accompanied by training and equipping the children with oral health knowledge. In many cases, the newly trained personnel should take the initiative of training the public. However, the concerned initiators of the health plan may train the health practitioners concurrently with the public depending on the situation at and (Ivers & Walton, 2012). At the end of the implementation process, the whole country should have knowledge about oral in children.
Liu, Sullivan, Khan, Sachs, and Singh (2011) praised the efficient and effective of using the already existing channels during the implementation of the plan. This strategy allows the interested parties to utilize the funds efficiently. The recommended strategy in this plan is to equip the already existing medical facilities. This is much easier than planting new facilities and investing with new resources. It includes encouraging the personnel to speak about oral health. Numerous campaigns have been held relating to the diseases considered more catastrophic. Such is HIV / AIDS. This has led institutions to concentrate more on such diseases while ignoring or overlooking those that are considered as minor such as oral health. Placing more emphasis on the latter will bear similar results as the former.
The initiators can also collaborate with companies that make business out of oral hygiene. The Colgate Company has greatly played significant roles in promoting oral health globally. The initiators can collaborate with Colgate in order to implement this strategy. This is not only limited to Colgate. Other local oral hygiene product making business should also be encouraged to come aboard and carry out…
