Our Story
My name is Jonathan Philippe. I am the founder of Sante Haiti. As someone who grew up in Haiti, I experienced first-hand what it means to not have access to basic health care. Thank goodness, I never had any major illness. However, this is not the case for a good portion of the population. Knowing that fact has put a strong desire in my heart to go back to Haiti and help as best as I can. Since starting medical school, I have been going to Haiti with friends at least once a year to provide basic healthcare in the community where I grew up, Martissant, a suburb of Port-au-Prince.
Sante Pou Tout Moun "Health Care for All" is the very essence of Sante Haiti. It is the guiding principle of our work. We see health as a human right that should be enjoyed by all and it is our mission to do all we can to ensure that the men, women and children of Haiti are able to enjoy this right. We provide sante pou tout moun through service, partnership, education and empowerment.
Our vision is to lessen existing healthcare inequalities by improving access to essential medical services within communities. We aim to highlight the importance of primary prevention through promoting healthy lifestyles and supporting community members in reaching and maintaining their health-related goals.
We are committed to working in partnership with members of the community and with supporting agencies to reach these objectives.
It is our belief that education leads to empowerment and as public health physicians we are strongly dedicated to teaching. We lead several community talks on public health issues and have seen, first hand, the value of teaching/training in empowering individuals and communities. A major component of our work also involves training health workers, nurses in particular, for the continuity of care.
![]()
The Impact
The program was initiated in the summer of 2008 where in less than 3 days, over 400 patients were seen for blood pressure checks, distribution of vitamins and education on public health issues in Martissant. The following year, over 1,000 patients were seen in Martissant, Delmas, Aux Cayes, Cap Haitien by our group. We have nurses that follow-up with those patients bi-weekly. The people we see are always looking forward to our return to Haiti. They constantly ask us to come more often so they can get a chance to see a healthcare professional more than once a year without having to worry about cost. In this spirit, we are planning on continuing and expanding the project, traveling to Haiti at least once a year for about 3 weeks to better our project and work in collaboration with local physicians to establish continuity of care.
In the communities where we work, we always find people who have never been to doctors, not because they do not want to, but because they can't afford the costs associated with it. A good portion of the people we have seen unknowingly have severe hypertension. Anemia is also very prevalent in adults and children. Easily treatable infections such as urinary tract infections, vaginal candidiasis or pneumonia are major problems because they are not properly treated or not treated at all. Usually people self-medicate on antibiotics (which are usually expired or have been sitting in the sun) that are easily available on the streets without need for prescriptions. Because of limited access to the healthcare, a good portion of the population has a short life expectancy. We believe that educating a community about important aspects of their health and providing them with the tools to implement successful changes, will not only improve the health of the community, but ultimately contribute to the prosperity of the nation as a whole.
What We Need
We will be heading to Haiti in May 2012. Our goal is to raise $15, 000 to provide medicines, supplies, sponsor local health workers and sponsor continued care for severely ill patients.
Medicines
Since high blood pressure and anemia are the most prevalent conditions that we have seen so far, we are planning on bringing blood pressure medications, iron tablets, folate, and other vitamins. Ibuprofen and antibiotics will also be very valuable to the community. We estimate that we will need about $5000 to cover those expenses.
Supplies
We need various supplies for screenings and follow-up checks such as glucometers and test strips, blood pressure cuffs, cholesterol meters and test strips, gloves, alcohol swabs, lancets, neosporin, bandages, etc. We estimate we will need about $3000 to cover those expenses.
Stipends for community workers
We have many people who live in Haiti that will help us with translation, registration on the clinic days, doing the vitals and other supporting work. We plan to give those helpers about $3000 total for their assistance.
Miscellaneous
While all the healthcare professionals who will be going to Haiti with us will be volunteering their time and paying their own airfare, certain expenses associated with the trip will be covered by the money raised. Expenses associated with the transportation of supplies (customs etc.), printing brochures and other educational material, transportation to and from locations within Haiti to provide care and food throughout our trip. We estimate for 5 volunteers for 3 weeks, we will need about $1000 for those expenses.
Community Health Fund
In 2012 we will be launching our Community Health Fund. Medical fees, though only less than $40 per patient, are a major barrier to care for many Haitians. We are aiming to combat this by creating a fund to meet the medical costs of those in need of continued care.The money will be used to sponsor clinic visits, medicine costs and hospital stays of patients in need of continued care. From the money raised, $3000 will be put into the Community Health Fund. We plan to continue raising money, particularly for the fund in the future.
Your contribution would be a big help in ensuring a sick individual gets the care s/he needs.
Other Ways You Can Help
