Haiti

Blindness in Haiti

Occupying roughly one-third of the Caribbean Island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic, Haiti has the dubious distinction of being the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. Most of its inhabitants live on less than $2 a day. The country accounts for an estimated 50% of blindness cases in the Caribbean region due to greater exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays. In 2010, an earthquake devastated the country’s already-fragile public health infrastructure, destroying 50 health centers and part of Haiti’s primary teaching hospital. The country also faces a severe shortage of trained medical personnel, with one physician for every 10,000 inhabitants. For these reasons, most Haitians do not have access to basic vision care.