PAHO and the Haitian Government Join Forces to Build a Stronger Health System for 2026–2028
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), which operates under the World Health Organization (WHO), has entered into a groundbreaking partnership with the Government of Haiti to reshape and reinforce the country’s health system. This collaboration, known as the Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) 2026–2028, is the first of its kind between the two entities. It represents a shared commitment to improving health outcomes, expanding access to care, and ensuring health equity for all Haitians.
The agreement was formally signed at PAHO Headquarters in Washington, D.C., during the 62nd Directing Council of PAHO, one of the organization’s most significant annual meetings. The signatories were Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, Director of PAHO, and Dr. Bertrand Sinal, Haiti’s Minister of Public Health and Population (MSPP).
This three-year strategy is designed as a comprehensive framework to guide PAHO’s technical cooperation in Haiti, aligning international expertise and resources with Haiti’s own national health priorities. It also directly supports the broader goals of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—particularly those related to health, equity, and resilience.
The Goals Behind the 2026–2028 Country Cooperation Strategy
At its core, the new CCS focuses on three main strategic priorities, each targeting a critical component of Haiti’s health landscape:
- Strengthening the health system and ensuring universal access
The first goal is to improve Haiti’s healthcare infrastructure so that every citizen—regardless of financial status—can access quality health services. This includes upgrading hospitals and clinics, improving training for health workers, expanding primary healthcare coverage, and ensuring that basic health services reach even the most remote or insecure areas of the country. - Enhancing the prevention and management of major health issues
Haiti faces a dual challenge: communicable diseases such as cholera, tuberculosis, and malaria, alongside the rising burden of noncommunicable diseases like diabetes and hypertension. The CCS seeks to improve surveillance, strengthen disease control programs, and integrate better health data systems to identify and respond to these threats more effectively. - Boosting emergency preparedness through the NEXUS Approach
The third pillar centers on emergency preparedness. The NEXUS Approach links humanitarian aid, long-term development, and peacebuilding into one cohesive strategy. In a country that frequently faces natural disasters, public health crises, and social instability, this model ensures that emergency responses also strengthen long-term systems rather than just providing short-term relief.
These three priorities are intended to work together, creating a resilient, inclusive, and sustainable health system that can adapt to both chronic and emerging challenges.
Why Haiti Needs a Stronger Health Framework
Haiti’s health challenges are deeply rooted and multi-dimensional. The country continues to face persistent humanitarian emergencies, including earthquakes, tropical storms, and outbreaks of infectious diseases. Compounding these are security concerns, economic instability, and limited health infrastructure, which leave large parts of the population without reliable access to care.
According to PAHO, structural vulnerabilities—from underfunded hospitals to shortages of trained medical personnel—have strained Haiti’s ability to deliver even basic health services. Many rural communities depend on small, under-equipped facilities, and the movement of displaced populations has further disrupted service delivery.
This new strategy acknowledges those realities. It emphasizes tailoring interventions based on regional conditions—including local security dynamics, population movements, and available health resources. The idea is not to impose a one-size-fits-all plan but to build resilience in every corner of the country, recognizing that Haiti’s health challenges vary dramatically from one area to another.
Collaboration and Consultation: Building the Strategy Together
One of the most important features of this CCS is how it was developed. Rather than being designed in isolation, it emerged through a wide consultative process involving:
- The Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP)
- Civil society organizations
- Local health experts and community representatives
- International development partners
This consultative approach ensures that the framework reflects Haiti’s national health goals, while also drawing on the global experience of PAHO and WHO. It strengthens coordination between government institutions, non-governmental organizations, and international donors, which is crucial for achieving measurable progress in such a complex environment.
Connected National Health Initiatives
The signing of the 2026–2028 CCS isn’t happening in isolation. It’s part of a larger transformation effort within Haiti’s health sector, which includes several new and complementary initiatives:
1. The Health National Adaptation Plan (HNAP) 2025–2029
Launched in September 2025, the HNAP is a national roadmap that focuses on climate resilience and health adaptation. The plan aims to strengthen Haiti’s ability to handle the growing health threats posed by climate change, such as vector-borne diseases, heat-related illnesses, and disruptions to water and food systems.
It introduces clear mechanisms for monitoring, evaluation, and governance, while ensuring alignment with the broader National Adaptation Framework. This initiative highlights how environmental change and public health are deeply interconnected in Haiti.
2. The National Plan for the Prevention and Control of Respiratory Diseases
Also launched in September 2025, this plan was developed during a technical workshop in Cap-Haïtien (Sept 2–4) with PAHO’s support. Its purpose is to improve Haiti’s readiness against respiratory diseases—both common conditions like influenza and emerging threats like new viral strains with epidemic potential.
The plan focuses on surveillance, laboratory capacity, risk communication, and vaccination strategies, with the goal of ensuring that Haiti can detect and respond quickly to respiratory outbreaks.
3. Promoting Health for Older Persons
In October 2025, Haiti celebrated the International Day of Older Persons with support from PAHO and the MSPP. The event offered free screenings for conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and vision problems, as well as ophthalmological consultations.
This event underscored a growing demographic shift—about 8% of Haitians are now over 60 years old, and that proportion is expected to rise. As Haiti’s population ages, the health system must adapt to manage chronic diseases and ensure older adults are included in public health strategies.
The Broader Meaning of the CCS
The 2026–2028 Country Cooperation Strategy is not just another bureaucratic plan. It’s a milestone in the partnership between PAHO/WHO and Haiti. For the first time, Haiti has a unified, multi-year framework that directly connects international cooperation to national priorities, providing a roadmap for both immediate action and long-term resilience.
The CCS also reflects a recognition of Haiti’s unique context. Health progress in Haiti cannot be separated from the country’s social, economic, and political realities. The framework therefore integrates peacebuilding and community resilience into its design—an approach rarely seen in standard health cooperation models.
However, experts note that the strategy’s success will depend on sustained funding, coordination among stakeholders, and the ability to adapt to rapidly changing conditions. With the security and humanitarian situation still volatile, even well-planned initiatives can face implementation hurdles.
A Closer Look at PAHO’s Role in the Americas
Founded in 1902, the Pan American Health Organization is the oldest international public health agency in the world. It serves as the regional office for the World Health Organization in the Americas and works with 35 countries to promote universal health coverage, control diseases, and respond to emergencies.
In Haiti, PAHO has been active for decades—supporting vaccination campaigns, rebuilding healthcare facilities after the 2010 earthquake, helping manage cholera outbreaks, and providing technical support during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new CCS expands this history of cooperation into a more structured, measurable, and accountable framework.
The initiative also ties into PAHO’s broader regional goals: advancing health equity, strengthening primary healthcare, and promoting resilience against emergencies across Latin America and the Caribbean.
Looking Ahead
The CCS 2026–2028 between PAHO/WHO and Haiti stands as a symbol of renewed commitment and shared responsibility. It aims to make health services more equitable, efficient, and responsive to the needs of every Haitian citizen.
By connecting humanitarian response, health system development, and long-term peacebuilding, this collaboration marks a new chapter for Haiti’s public health sector.
If implemented successfully, it could serve as a model for other countries facing similar combinations of instability, poverty, and health vulnerability—showing how global partnerships can empower nations to rebuild their health systems from the ground up.
