Health authorities concerned about diphtheria in Haiti
Jamaica Observer
Tuesday, October 24, 2017 1 comment
PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti (CMC) — At least three people have died as the health authorities here worry about the return of diphtheria to Haiti due to lack of vaccination of children.
During the first seven months of this year, 72 probable cases of diphtheria have been reported with 74 per cent of the cases being children under 10 years old.
Health officials have said 22 cases were confirmed in the laboratory, three of whom have since died.
They said immunisation status is unknown for 54.5 per cent of confirmed cases; 18 per cent were vaccinated and 27 per cent were not vaccinated. The confirmed cases come from four departments: Artibonite, centre, west and southeast.
Diphtheria is an infectious disease due to three bacterial species capable of producing diphtheria toxin. The bacterium is transmitted by air, specifically via aerosols emitted during a cough or sneezing during direct contact with a patient or asymptomatic carrier.
The incubation period is usually 2 to 5 days. The most characteristic symptom of this disease is the presence of whitish “false membranes” in the tonsils (diphtheria) or in the wound (cutaneous diphtheria). Diphtheria angina is the usual form of the disease.
It is characterised by pharyngitis, fever, swelling of the neck and headache. In some cases, the toxin can lead to paralysis of the central nervous system or the diaphragm and throat, resulting in death by asphyxiation.
Haitian Immigrants March for TPS Extension
Time is running out for Haitians living in the United States under temporary protected status. TPS is set to expire in January, unless the Trump Administration acts by next month.
Rain or shine, Haitian Immigrants said they want to stay in South Florida during a march Saturday.
“We are here in front of the immigration offices to ask the Trump Administration to renew temporary protected status for 18 months for citizens of Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador,” said Marleine Bastien, the executive director of Haitian Women of Miami.
With each chant, Haitian Women of Miami, community leaders and supporters pushed forward, urging the Department of Homeland Security to renew TPS, focusing on Haitian immigrants living in the United States.
“I got a baby, four-years-old, she’s American born. Can I go back to my country with a baby when you have no hospital, nothing?” said Marcia Jean Philippe, a TPS recipient from Haiti.
Marica is one of many Haitian TPS recipients who have been living the U.S. for years, since the devastating earthquake in 2010. After major hurricanes like Matthew, many fear the Caribbean nation is not in any condition to accept deportees.
“My country is not ready to take me back with my kids,” said Philippe.
TIDE OF PLASTIC RUBBISH DISCOVERED FLOATING OFF IDYLLIC CARIBBEAN ISLAND COASTLINE
Shocking images have captured a Caribbean island’s clear blue seas being choked by a tide of plastic rubbish.
Taken off the Honduran island of Roatan, the pictures show plastic cutlery, bags, bottles and wrapping floating among seaweed.
One picture, taken from below the waterline, shows the sun being blocked out by the sheer weight of the pollution dumped into the ocean. Blue Planet Society, a pressure group which campaigns to save the world’s oceans, had suggested the plastic may have originated from the Montagua River in Guatemala.
Recent footage captured a torrent of waste being carried out to sea from its mouth.
Caroline Power, who lives on Roatan, which is just 12 miles long and three miles wide, shared the images on social media to raise awareness of the problem.
She said it should make people think carefully about their plastic use.
“Think about your daily lives," she wrote in a Facebook post. "How did you take your food to go last time you ate out? How was your last street food served? Chances are it was Styrofoam and served with a plastic fork and then put in a plastic bag."
World Bank Approves US$35 Million for Clean Energy and Improved Electricity Access in Haiti
WASHINGTON, October 26, 2017— The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved two grants totaling US$35 million to improve access to electricity for more than two million Haitians, and to scale-up investments in renewable energy in underserved rural and urban areas.
“Haiti has significant untapped sources of renewable energy”, said Anabela Abreu, World Bank’s Country Director for Haiti. “The country is taking an important step in creating the enabling environment for private investors and in boosting access to electricity. The World Bank Group will continue to support the country in providing sustainable renewable energy to increase access for families, businesses and community services in underserved areas, diversify its energy mix, and reduce electricity cost”.
Renewable energy sources such as solar, hydropower, wind and biomass, and off grid electrification have great potential. Over five million people could be reached through solar photovoltaic (PV). Yet, only one in three Haitians has access to electricity and access is very limited in rural areas.
More specifically, the two projects, “Renewable Energy For All” and “Haiti Modern Energy Services for All,” will help:
- Improve the environment for private investment in clean energy;
- Expand access for rural households through leveraged investments in micro and mini-grids, and village level systems;
- Strengthen the capacity of local institutions and develop awareness of local communities on how to use renewable energy;
- Finance private operators, NGOs and Community Organizations to provide solar lanterns, and individual and home-based solar systems.
Both projects will be implemented by the energy cell of the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Communications (MTPTC in French). The Renewable Energy for All project is financed by a US$ 19.62 million grant from the Scaling-up Renewable Energy Program (SREP); and the Modern Energy Services for All project is financed by a US$ 15.65 million grant from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF). Both grants are from the Climate Investment Fund (CIF) and are part of the World Bank’s accelerated effort to provide clean energy and resilient infrastructure.
Contacts: In Washington: Christelle Chapoy, (202) 361 4255,
The Haitian Passport is the most limited of the region
The financial firm Arton Capital consulting has just updated its ranking of passports throughout the world. Passports considered the most advantageous are the ones provided by countries which allow visiting the maximum amount of countries without needing any visa application on arrival.
In the CARICOM and Caribbean Region, Haiti ranks 150th in the world classification out of the 199 countries in the United Nations. This allows Haitian citizens to visit only 54 countries without a visa. The passport from the Dominican Republic ranks 130th in the world classification, allowing Dominican citizens to visit 62 countries without a visa. The best passport of the Region is the one from Barbados, which ranks 49th in the world classification, which allow citizens of Barbados to visit 136 countries without a visa.
For the zone of North America, the two best passports are the ones from the United States and Canada, each of which allow their citizens to visit 154 countries without visas.
At the world level the Germany passport was dethroned by the one from Singapore which became the most advantageous to the world since Paraguay suspended its requirement for Singaporeans to obtain a visa. As a result, Singaporean citizens can now visit in 159 countries without a visa, versus only 158 for German citizens.
The LANS submission deadline for the reconstruction of the national palace has been extended
Following the enthusiasm of professional Haitian and international architects to participate in the architecture competition for the reconstruction of Haiti’s National Palace, the work and reflection group for the reconstruction of the historic building advises the following:
- The deadline given for the request for proposals will be extended by (21) calendar days or until November 21st, 2017, at noon.
- Firms will have to present their financial statements, which must be audited by an accounting firm or an independent accounting consultant who is a member of OCPAH.
- The email address for correspondences and information is:
Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser. .ht
If necessary, contact the Unity of Housing Construction and Public Buildings (UCLBP) for the gathering of files and to obtain documents from the Ministry of Trade and the Industry (MCI) and the head of the Taxes Office.
The National College of Haitian Engineers and Architects (CNIAH) is available for professional support and for the preparation of files.
Haiti: the national time will be pushed back by 60 minutes on November 5th, 2017
BY DANIEL DARÉUS DANS NOUVELLES · IN OCTOBER 28TH, 2017
P-au-P, 26 oct.2017 [AlterPresse]---The national time will be pushed back by 60 minutes, starting at 2:00 a.m., on Sunday, November 5th, 2017, reminded the General Secretary to the presidency.
Consequently, starting on Sunday, November 5th, 2017, 2:00 a.m. will, in reality, be 1:00 a.m., specified the document.
The population should make arrangements to avoid mix-ups in daily activities.
Since 2011, under the administration of President Michel Martelly, Haiti started adjusting the national time to correspond with daylights savings time.
This change occurs twice every year – the second Sunday of March and the first Sunday of November.
The idea is to take advantage of a longer day, and benefit from a maximum of amount of sunshine as well as save energy. Those are the elements put forward by the Haitian authorities to justify adjusting the time.
Fats Domino, Architect of Rock 'N' Roll, Dies At 89
NPR - National Public Radio
Fats Domino, one of the architects of rock 'n' roll, died last Tuesday at his daughter's suburban New Orleans home. Domino, who was 89, died of natural causes.
In the 1940s, Antoine Domino Jr., the son of Haitian Creole parents, was working at a mattress factory in New Orleans and playing piano at night. Both his waistline and his fan base were expanding. That's when a bandleader began calling him "Fats." From there, it was a cakewalk to his first million-selling record — "The Fat Man." It was Domino's first release for Imperial Records, which signed him right off the bandstand.
Producer, songwriter, arranger and bandleader Dave Bartholomew was there. He described the scene in a 1981 interview. "Fats was rocking the joint," Bartholomew said. "And he was sweating and playing, he'd put his whole heart and soul in what he was doing, and the people was crazy about him — so that was it. We made our first record, 'The Fat Man,' and we never turned around."
Between 1950 and 1963, Domino hit the R&B charts a reported 59 times, and the pop charts a rollicking 63 times. He outsold Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly — combined. Only Elvis Presley moved more records during that stretch — and Presley cited Domino as the early master.
So how did a black man with a fourth-grade education in the Jim Crow South, the child of Haitian Creole plantation workers and the grandson of a slave, sell more than 65 million records?
Domino could "wah-wah-waaaaah" and "woo-hooo!" like nobody else in the whole wide world — and he made piano triplets ubiquitous in rock 'n' roll. "Blueberry Hill," for example, was not Domino's own song — it was first published in 1940 and had already been recorded by the likes of Glenn Miller, Gene Autry and Louis Armstrong — but Domino's version in 1956, complete with those right-hand triplets, was unforgettable.
The British Invasion sent nearly every American performer tumbling down the charts. And yet longtime confidante and family friend Haydee Ellis says that Domino wouldn't change a note.
Domino toured for many years but eventually settled into life at his compound in the Lower Ninth Ward, in New Orleans, cooking loads of hog's head cheese for his many friends.
Then came Hurricane Katrina — and everybody thought he was dead. "When Katrina came," Ellis gasps, "Oh, Lord! Fats would say he wanted to leave, but he said, 'What kind of man would I be if I left my family? They don't want to leave.' "
The family survived. Domino lived out the post-Katrina years in a suburb of New Orleans with one of his eight children. But his house still stands on Caffin Avenue, in the Lower Ninth Ward, and has been restored in recent years. It's a reminder of the greatness that the neighborhood once produced, of the golden age of New Orleans music — and of what a fat man can do.