Health through Walls
International Prison Projects

The Caribbean
Hispaniola: Haiti and the Dominican Republic

The Caribbean island of Hispaniola, comprised of the countries of Haiti and Dominican Republic, has the highest prevalence of tuberculosis and HIV disease in the Western Hemisphere, and has some of the fewest resources to address it.  The incidence of drug-resistenace tuberculosis in the Dominican Republic and Haiti is among the highest in the world.  Twice as many persons become infected with HIV in the Caribbean each year than the whole of North-America. Health through Walls works in the crowded prisons of these countries where disease is prevalent.

Haiti

Our primary focus has been the National Penitentiary, Haiti's largest prison facility located in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince. The National Penitentiary holds approximately 2,000 prisoners. Since 2001 Health through Walls has visited the prison approximately every two months bringing donations of medications and other equipment.  Responding to a request from the medical director of prisons, one of the first projects was the establishment of a laboratory in the prison for the diagnosis of tuberculosis.  Training on specimen collection, analysis, and diagnosis was provided to the dedicated prison health care staff.  Other health care needs have been identified and addressed with the local staff.  During the years, hundreds of prisoners have been evaluated and treated.  Health through Walls is warmly welcomed by the hard-working and professional security and medical staff of the prison.  Health through Walls also collaborates with Alternative Chance, or Chans Altenativ, a non-profit program that assists "criminal deportees" with their transition to productive lives after they have been deported to Haiti from the United States following serving time for criminal convictions.

Dominican Republic

In the Dominican Republic, Health through Walls collaborates with Fundacion Genesis, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the health and dignity of all Dominicans.  In 2001, Health through Walls conducted a review of health needs at several large prisons, including LaVictoria, with a population exceeding 4,000 prisoners.  The effort brought together several agencies incuding the prison health department, the Ministry of Health, and national programs for the control and prevention of tuberculosis and HIV.  The result has been an influx of resources and attention to health needs of prisoners.  In 2004, Health through Walls' volunteers performed health evalutions for more than 100 inmates and developed tools to improve the efficiency of infectious disease screening.

Jamaica

Collaboration with the Jamaican Department of Correctional Services began in 2004 when medical students from South Florida's NOVA Southeastern University College of Medicine joined Health through Walls volunteers and provided health care services to hundreds of prisoners in several prisons throughout Jamaica.  The activity inspired many students to future service in correctional facilities.  Follow-up to the project included medical relief efforts to the correctional department after a hurricane, and voluntary, comprehensive health assessments for prisoners at the largest prison in Kingston.  Select health care personnel from the Jamaican Department of Correctional Services have been sponsored to attend correctional health conferences in the United States.

Africa

Tanzania