The mission of Zanmi Lasante (ZL) is to provide a preferential health care option to the poor.
Country Of Origin
Haiti
Country of Operation
Haiti
Strenghts
ZL has been working in Haiti since the early 1980s. Starting in the rural town of Cange, ZL has expanded its reach to 16 public sites across the Central Plateau and lower-Artibonite departments. We are a locally registered NGO that works is close collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MSPP). 99% of ZL’s 6,800 employees are Haitian or Haitian American. Throughout the last 3 decades, Zanmi Lasante has provided support to the Government of Haiti, local and international partners in the aftermath of hurricanes, flooding, earthquakes and political instability. Our work focuses on whatever it takes, which is our unofficial motto. Our largest programs focus on HIV/TB, women’s health, medical education, nutrition and numerous other supportive areas including gender based violence, water, sanitation, hygiene, education, agriculture and so on. We support 5 hospitals in Hinche, Lascaobas, St. Marc, Belladere, and University Hospital of Mirebalais, which is the largest reference hospital in Haiti. HUM has 350 beds, receives over 1,000 patients a day and has over 1 million patient encounters each year since it’s opening in April 2013.
Long Term Plan
ZL collaborates with the Ministry of Health (MSPP) to provide care and strengthen public health systems in areas including cancer and chronic disease, child health, emergency response, HIV/AIDS, maternal health, mental health, and tuberculosis. We do whatever it takes to ensure that Haiti's most vulnerable populations have access to healthcare services. We started working in Haiti for the past three decades and do not plan to leave. We work closely with the MSPP and believe in accompaniment to help build strong health systems.
Ongoing Projects
- HIV/AIDS/TB
- Maternal and Child Health
- Nutrition
- Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)
- Medical Education
- Oncology
- Gender-based violence (GBV)
- Family Planning
- Mental Health
Description
Zanmi Lasante (ZL) began working in Haiti in 1983 in the rural community of Cange. Today, ZL is the largest health care provider in Haiti, working in the Central Plateau and lower-Artibonite departments and employing more than 6,800 Haitians and Haitian Diaspora. For the past 30 years, ZL has established a robust partnership with the Ministry of Public Health (MSPP), and provides primary care, HIV and tuberculosis (TB) services, as well as secondary and tertiary care through a network of 15 public health institutions. Investment in training, medical education, social services, supply chain management, laboratory innovations and community outreach programs complement the provision of ZL service programs. In addition to providing preferential primary, secondary and tertiary care, Zanmi Lasante supports 42 schools, hundreds of agricultural projects, water and sanitation (WASH) and the treatment of malnutrition through a factory that produces Nourimanba, a peanut butter and vitamin
supplement, an oncology department, cholera treatment centers and outreach and support against gender-based violence (GBV).
- Robust partner of the MSPP for 3 decades and locally registered NGO in Haiti
- ZL operates the University Hospital of Mirebalais (HUM), which is the largest reference hospital in Haiti
- ZL received and treated first 2 COVID-19 patients in Haiti on March 19th, 2020
Needs
As one of the largest local healthcare providers, ZL is always responding to the needs of Haiti's most vulnerable. We remain dedicated to increasing access to quality and dignified healthcare. We are continuously looking for investments across our programs in five key components of the public health system, which we refer to as the “5Ss”: Staff—ensuring well-trained, qualified staff in sufficient quantity to respond to need; Stuff-- ensuring the tools and resources needed for care delivery and administration are available; Space – ensuring safe, appropriate spaces with capacity to serve full need, including investments in WASH at facility and community levels; Systems—ensuring reinforcement of leadership and governance, information, and financing; and Social Support-- providing basic necessities and resources needed to ensure effective care, understanding that the majority of people in the Central Plateau and lower Artibonite are economically and food insecure.
