Haiti

The first cases of autochthonous Zika transmission in Haiti were reported in January 2016. According to the latest Zika Epidemiological Report from the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO)[1], the number of suspected spiked from January through February 2016, with a dramatic decline beginning in the last week of February. An upward trend in suspected cases began again in mid-May, peaking in June, but only at about one-third of the suspected cases reported earlier in the year. All 10 departments now have reported suspected and confirmed cases of Zika, with the highest burden in Sud-Est, Nord, Nippes, and Centre. Despite the decline in suspected cases, a trend seen throughout the LAC region, the virus still remains a threat. ZAP Haiti will work in collaboration with several international and local partners in response to Zika response efforts.

This work plan details project resources and activities that the ZAP Haiti program will implement during the period of January through December 2017.

Key ZAP Haiti Objectives in 2017

In 2017, ZAP Haiti will implement vector control (VC) activities in three departments and will establish routine entomological surveillance in 4 communes (3 intervention, 1 control). ZAP Haiti will support the Government of Haiti (GoH) with establishing best practices in managing Zika-related environmental health risks, safe inventory and warehouse management, and testing technologies to control transmission. With the GoH and other partners, ZAP Haiti will work to strengthen insecticide resistance (IR) management policies and establish a comprehensive domain of bionomic data on Aedes vectors to ensure data-driven decisions in any forthcoming arbovirus control efforts. ZAP Haiti will work at national and departmental levels with various partners to achieve the following key project objectives:

  • Implementation of high quality VC management (including larviciding and environmental clean-up) to protect vulnerable populations from Zika virus transmission;
  • Establishment of entomological surveillance best practices in selected areas (including vector bionomic studies, routine monitoring, data reporting, IR policies, and logistics); and
  • Enhancing capacity and skills of counterparts in VC and entomology to establish in-country resources to program and implement activities for the reduction of Zika and other arbovirus transmission (including national training in VC and entomology, sub-national and community-level skill building, and procurement of supplies and equipment).

[1] Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization. Zika – Epidemiological Report Honduras. November 2016. Washington, D.C.: PAHO/WHO; 2016