Port au Prince 4 years later

After an early quick flight to Port au Prince I was picked up by Dr Ogedad and taken to the venue for the 2^nd Haitian Annual Assembly for Orthopaedic Trauma which is organised by the SIGN Group and sponsored by Partners in Health, Project Hope Haiti/USAID Haiti. The SIGN Company was formed some years ago in the US to develop low cost trauma implants for countries with limited resources like Haiti which could not be sold in the States to avoid price inflation. They have developed a  locked nailing system which does not require image intensification and can be inserted easily without the sophisticated equipment, as for example a fracture table and power tools, which most orthopaedic surgeons take for granted.

 

 

I believe this is a great initiative and I have already seen the improved management of long bone fractures at Justinien Hospital. The meeting is mainly aimed at education of Haitian trainees and they are encouraged to present papers and participate in the discussion on difficult cases. Dr Ogedad gave a very good presentation on correction of post traumatic deformities and I have to say that he is amongst the top senior trainees in the country. I believe the support from HHH has helped him significantly to get to a very high level of surgical expertise which he will pass on to other young local doctors based on his teaching skills and enthusiasm. Listening to what is being done around the country is very interesting and to me it is clear that those hospitals supported by outside aid are much better off when it comes to equipment and implants compared to the situation in Cap Haitian where I work. One of the risks of this approach is that you get pockets of excellent orthopaedic care and others of basically no care at all! I think the country needs to improve its universal orthopaedic care before some groups launch themselves into very expensive treatments for what looks to me like minor cosmetic deformities.

Driving through Port au Prince 4 years after the earthquake is encouraging as most of the tent cities and fallen down buildings, I saw during my first visit in 2010, have disappeared and been replaced by construction sites. The city has returned to what is normal in Haiti: chaos!