For my final project about the health in Haiti, I decided to look at and research about chronic respiratory diseases and how this impacts the population. Just in a time period of one year, over 31,565 hospital admissions and 1763 deaths were recorded here i just children ages five and up. These respiratory diseases affect anyone of any age, although children and women are most likely to get very ill from it due to their bodies not being developed yet and for grown women, the conditions in which they live in. Respiratory diseases accounted for over 30% of all hospitalizations during the study year, and counted for 17% of the deaths. Children ages 6-23 months had the highest percentage of hospitalizations attributable to respiratory diseases (38%) where children ages 36-47 months had the highest population of deaths attributable to respiratory diseases (37%). “Respiratory disease hospitalizations followed a constant season pattern, with the peaks being May, June, October, and December” (Vinekar 2016). Respiratory diseases contributed to more than half of hospitalizations and almost a third of all deaths in children in Haiti younger than five. There has been a lot of effort in trying to combat this disease. Vaccines are the only thing that is said to help prevent this in children. The Global Enteric Multicenter Study (GEMS) showed that pneumoniae causes 8-12% of the deaths in Haiti yearly. Studies show that the numbers of reported respiratory diseases were almost double the number than STDS. Groups such as the GEMS are trying to prevent children from getting these diseases by giving them a vaccination right when they are born rather than when they are already exposed to the outside environment. Studies show that the reason respiratory diseases are so high in children and women in Haiti is because of the poverty they have there. Even something as simple as breathing in dust or dirt for long periods of time can cause a chronic respiratory disease. Even though there are many programs and people out there trying to prevent this, the reason these numbers have not gotten better in the past few years is because of how poor the country is. They are not able to afford the access to the vaccines even though organizations are trying to change this. “A medical surveillance system (MMS) was implemented in Haiti to enable people to better direct health care system”(Gamel 1999). “The strain of bacteria that causes the disease in Haiti is so severe that even vaccinated Americans who come here to help or visit are at a high chance in getting this chronic respiratory disease” (Medline 2003). Because of all of the poverty, poor living conditions, and the inability to produce enough money for vaccines, Haiti is still at a very high risk for this disease and the death tolls are not decreasing. This chronic respiratory disease is responsible for many deaths in Haiti. Taking on this problem from a public health position means taking are of everyone in Haiti which will add up to be very expensive, in which, they cannot afford. Vaccines and new medical systems such as the MMS have helped decrease these numbers, but not dramatically enough. The poverty, very poor living conditions, and the expense of the vaccines overpower what is already out there to try and help the population of Haiti. Culturally, this disease is so common, that many people tend to be oblivious to this disease and over look it rather than educating themselves and try to prevent it in their children or themselves. Out of all five models that were discussed in week one, I feel as if the feminist theory was most relevant for this course and talking about this widespread epidemic in Haiti. When talking about the feministy theory, there are many factors that go into this theory. Some being the studies of women’s roles in society, being their rights, privileges, interests and concerns in society. The feminist theory studies women in society everywhere in the world. In such countries, like the one I am studying, being Haiti, as I talked about last week, there are several issues with women in society such as severe inequality and most serious being their overall well being which is proven to be very poor in Haiti. The women, because of their conditions in which they live, are more likely to contract chronic diseases than men are because they are treated very poorly. The femenist theory explores the conditions of women in Haiti. Studies showed that “feminism is a dirty word in Haiti” (Chery 2017). In Haiti, there is great and severer inequality. It is so severe that saying the word femenist or feminism can put you in danger or you can get hurt. The president of Haiti, recently, threatened a protestor with sexual assault and publically insulted a female journalist. This is the issue with women in society in Haiti. No matter what they do, marches, parades, riots, strikes, no justice will be made because the government is against this whole idea of women being just as equal as men in society. When a woman gets abused or assaulted by her husband or significant other at home, nothing is done even by emergency services if called. This is why women are so much more prone to illnesses such as chronic respiratory illnesses and diseases, which is becoming a very severe epidemic in Haiti. They are left untreated with the illness and are forced to work, cook, and clean even if they are severely sick. In Haiti, “the country’s governmental instability, combined with enduring gender roles and violence, has prevented the potential of women’s organization and full political participation as well as social inclusion on a national scale” (Sacks 2018). As mentioned above, we can understand that nothing is being done in Haiti for women to gain more equality. The government refuses to make such a change in their society. Despite the challenges women have in Haiti being that no matter what they do, nothing will be done, “women have gathered together to start clubs and organizations to help each other achieve a higher level of well being” (Azor 2017). The women of Haiti reached out and told local sources of how they would be lucky enough to even have the right to receive vaccinations where they are ill. The women of Haiti are getting sicker and sicker because they are being left untreated with these chronic respiratory infections and diseases. The feminist theory is very relevat to the women in sociery in Haiti becuase of these issues. Hopefully one day, the women of Haiti can come together and find a way to make great changes to the society. No one should be left treated this way just because of their gender. Another challenge that connects the feminitst theory to my health issue in Haiti being the chronic resporatory illness is by reframing violence against women and trauma as health issues. In Haiti, this both challenges and reinforces our understanding of health, illness, and medicine. There is a lot of violence that goes on in Haiti that affects their health. I learned that the marriage between the husband and wife is almost always set up by the moms and dads of the family. Most of the time, the love in the marriage is almost ever “there” or “real”. The husband forces the woman to do dirty housework jobs and hard labor which is why the majority of the people who get sick with chronic illnesses are women. The men are seen to be the superior ones in the family and to always be respected and never talked back to. The women in Haiti not only do the house work and clean all day, but they also do hard demanding labor such as getting fresh water and food for the family which is not easy and is very hard on the body. The women rarely ever get any time off of work and this is why they are at more of a risk in getting these chronic respiratory illnesses than men are. According to studies from Medline University, studies show that since the “stress levels in a women in Haiti are so high, her body is not able to take care of itself, so the immune system is weaker, putting her at a greater potential for chronic illnesses” (Medline 2003). The women of Haiti are unable to give their bodies the rest that it needs, and are constantly pushing their bodies to excruciating levels every day which is why they are the majority of the population who gets sick. “The physical aspect of these conditions is very draining on the woman, but the mental aspect of it could worsen their conditions and put them into a deep depression”(Gamel 1999). While reading Sperilch’s discussion and reading about what is defined as trauma, I can now see how this all ties together for the health of women in Haiti. Sperilch defines trauma as “life threatening events” in which could be seen with the issue of chronic respiratory illnesses of the women in Haiti (Sperich). The concept of expressing violence against women and trauma as health issues, generally, shows that there is a lot of preventions and medicines in the biomedical feild that tend to make this problen not as bad, but at the same time, there is such a long way to go about solving the issues that occur. My issue that I am researching being chronic respiratory illnesses in Haiti is an epidemic issue that many groups and organizations are trying to solve. The whole illness itself is currently  being treated by vaccines, but the Haitian government is trying to pass laws that allow women to marry the person whom she wants instead of being in a forced relationship and marriage. The issue with the vaccines that are being sent to Haiti for this is that they are so expensive and Haiti is so poor that barely anyone could afford these vaccinations. There is also the problem being that the man of the house is the one who makes the money, so they are usually unwilling to spend money on their wives, whom they barely even show affection to, to cure her from this chronic illness. According to medline University, “over 55% of people who get sick with these chronic respiratory illnesses are women, 23% of them being under the age of 40” (Medline 2003). I always knew that the women in Haiti were not treated as equally as men, but I never knew the extent of this and was oblivious to it until I read and learned about it from their everyday lives tied into their health. The women in Haiti are not only physically affected by these illnesses, but also very mentally affected. There needs to be a chance in the women’s life in order for her to live a happy healthy life. There are efforts being implemented to try and help women with this, although, more needs to be done. Many people in America don’t think about things like this because it is very rare for something like this to happen here in America. One last factor that sets up the women of Haiti for being one of the top countries to have chronic respiratory illnesses is due to their social determinants. As we know, no two places in the world are the same. How people dress, what they eat, how they speak and even their social determinants are different. Social determinants are things in people’s environments that affect the outcome of certain things. In Haiti, there are several challenges that the people who live there face. For Haiti, one of the biggest social determinants to health for that country is access to clean water. Haiti, as we know, is not the wealthiest country out there. They face great detriments to their health every day, although, access to clean water is a big detriment that affects almost every one in Haiti. It is scientifically proven “prior research in Haiti documented that public water sources are commonly fecally contaminated, as indicated by the presence of escherichia coli” (Gerges 2016). In this study, over 63 sources of water from all across Haiti were tested. It is scientifically proven that out of those 63 water sources, over 73% were found with some trace of e.coli in it, some being larger amounts than others. Although e.coli is the main contaminant found in the drinking water in Haiti, there are also other contaminants found in their, supposively, clean drinking water that could make the people very sick with diseases and even die. It is also scientifically proven that in “Haiti, they have inadequate access to drinking water and waste contaminated with disease vectors, pathogens or unacceptable levels of toxins or suspended solids” (Zaman 2013). The people of Haiti who consume this contaminated water are at a very high risk for developing widespread, acute, and chronic illnesses and is a major cause of death and misery here in Haiti. Since this is such an issue here, many people don’t consume the drinking water even if it is said to be safe. Instead, they will rely on boiling water or bottled water, if accessible. Although this is a good practice to rely on, it can get very expensive and many cannot afford it or are unable to access this practice of consuming clean drinking water. It is proven that even though 70% of our world is covered in water, only 3% is accessible to drinking water for humans. Even though there is such a big challenge of accessing clean drinking water in Haiti, many Haitians are trying to do things to help with such a problem. The most common way for the people of Haiti to access clean drinking water is through rainfall. They will place large pots and jugs outside during rainfall and collect this water. This social detriment is a very serious problem across many countries, although, Haiti is at such a great risk because of the condition their country is in economically. “There are many reasons for these disadvantages including lack of education, inadequate job opportunities and poor living conditions (Marmot 2005). The women of the families in Haiti, as I mentioned earlier, are the ones who collect any drinking water that they can. Not only for themselves, but their families. This is a big task and challenge to conquer, especially being that they are usually the ones whom get sick and contract these chronic illnesses. If anything, the husband of the house will get to receive the clean drinking water from rainfall or a water bottle while the woman has to risk drinking the contaminated water. These are all factors in which Haiti is extremely disadvantaged and is why women are more likely to contract chronic respiratory illnesses, as I mentioned, more than men are. The feminist theory really puts things into perspetive and shows how much more disadvantaged women are to men in countires such as Haiti. 

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