: Our Impact

The black market for COVID vaccines and proof of vaccination is growing rapidly as people tire of restrictions and are anxious to return to normalcy. It is also driven by the inequitable distribution of vaccines, leaving many low- and middle-income (LMIC) countries behind.Many of the dangers are obvious—a person may become more ill or die because of receiving an ineffective medicine for their illness. Less obvious is that counterfeit antibiotics can promote antibiotic resistance and fuel the spread of drug resistant organisms throughout communities.Fake vaccines—substituting plain salt water for a vaccine, for example—might not cause immediate harm, but may fuel distrust about vaccines’ effectiveness. People will falsely assume that they are protected and engage in risky behaviors.One of the problems with these scams is that they not only hurt individuals, but they hurt all of us. Until we get widespread vaccine uptake and herd immunity, we will not stop the spread of coronavirus, and mutant strains will proliferate.

S’assurer de la qualité des soins dans les institutions sanitaires, en particulier dans les établissements les plus difficiles d’accès, est une source d’inquiétudes constante pour les autorités sanitaires publiques en Haïti.

To read this story in French, please click here.Ensuring the quality of care in health institutions, especially of those in hard-to-reach areas, is a constant source of concern for public health authorities in Haiti. The Morne à Brûler health center, located in the third communal section of la Vallée de Jacmel, 100 km southwest of Port-au-Prince, is an example of this challenge.Although the health center should have been serving a catchment population of 10,267 inhabitants, it was nonoperational for three years.

To read this story in French, please click here.The Government of Benin aims to implement a health system that offers quality health services to all citizens in a sustainable manner while giving more responsibility to local leaders. However, Government funds are not sufficient to cover the costs of this initiative, especially when considering health emergencies. For this reason, local authorities must identify alternative sources of funding for the care of their constituents.