In partnership with the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti ( MINUSTAH) Konbit Sante is assisting in the implementation of a new waste management initiative that will improve the ability to treat and remove medical waste at the Justinien Hospital in Cap Haitien, Haiti.

Currently, medical wastes are incinerated in the backyard of the Justinien Hospital which exposes the entire staff, patients andvisitors to incalculable risks. The Justinien Hospital is a two-hundred-fifty-bed, government-run teaching hospital serving the needs of Cap-Haïtien and the surrounding communities of northern Haiti, an estimated 825,000 people.

Nate Nickerson, Executive Director of Konbit Sante, stated, 'There is an urgent need for our partners and colleagues in Haiti to have access to the resources they require to implement solutions such as these. Improvements in waste management enable our staff and all health workers at the Justinien Hospital to work in a healthier environment and provide better care to their patients."

This project assists the hospital in its ability to manage the solid waste it generates by constructing a space to set out and store the Hospital's waste in a sanitary fashion, and by creating an opening in the back of the Hospital giving daily access to a truck to carry it to a dump.

Through this project, our Haitian partners are working to promote a sanitary and healthy environment at the public hospital by:

• Providing a safe collection location for the waste that the hospital generates

• Providing access for safe removal of the waste from the hospital grounds

• Allowing for better management of the waste, and an enhanced image of the Hospital in the community.