Young children in Haiti eating food. Photo courtesy The Borgen Project.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti--Entrepreneurs in rural Haiti are taking action to end malnutrition in their communities, with the support of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Fondasyon Kole Zepòl (Fonkoze) through the Aksyon Kominotè nan Sante pou Ogmante Nitrisyon (AKSYON or Community Health Action to Improve Nutrition) programme. This year alone, the programme has screened nearly 75,000 children for malnutrition in all of Haiti’s ten Departments, including 138 communes, 591 communal sections and 5,285 localities.
US Ambassador accredited to Haiti, Michele Sison declared: “The AKSYON programme not only helps fight and prevent malnutrition throughout Haiti, it also creates opportunities for the community health entrepreneurs to grow their own businesses while making a difference in their neighbourhoods.”
AKSYON is a five-year, US $14 million programme implemented by Fonkoze starting in August 2016. AKSYON works through Fonkoze’s nationwide network of community health stores called “boutik sante” to bring reliable, affordable, life-saving health products, information and services to rural Haiti. AKSYON enables Fonkoze and USAID, through the Boutik Sante programme, to deepen malnutrition interventions.
Through the USAID-funded AKSYON programme, Fonkoze’s 1,368 community health entrepreneurs now conduct malnutrition screening campaigns in their communities and with support from registered nurses, identify cases of malnutrition and refer them to nearby facilities for treatment. Subsequently, community health entrepreneurs and nurses conduct three months of follow-up visits to make sure the children remain healthy and strong. Through the USAID AKSYON programme, they also sell other health products that promote health and nutrition, such as antibacterial soap, hand sanitiser, iodized salt, moringa powder, vegetable seeds, oral rehydration salt and water purification tablets, among others. ~ HaitiLibre ~
