Results & Impact

With assistance from The Carter Center, the nations' health officials established a cross-border pilot project in 2008 to target malaria in Ouanaminthe, Haiti (pop. 92,000), and Dajabón, Dominican Republic (pop. 27,000). The project included purchase and distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets; provision of laboratory supplies, motorbikes, and other equipment; and training for health staff. The Haitian and Dominican Ministries were awarded the Malaria Champion in the Americas Award in 2017 for their commitment to this project. 

In 2009, Haiti and the Dominican Republic produced, with Carter Center assistance, a binational plan to eliminate the two diseases from Hispaniola by 2020, and since 2012, the Center has supported quarterly binational meetings to promote coordinated elimination activities. 

In 2021, a total of 10,951 cases of malaria were reported in Hispaniola (10,661 in Haiti and 290 in the Dominican Republic). This represents a 51.7% decrease in cases since 2020 (22,685 cases) and an 87.4% decrease in cases since 2010, indicating that the national programs are achieving success against malaria. For lymphatic filariasis, 100 percent of districts in the Dominican Republic and 86 percent of districts in Haiti have met criteria to stop mass drug administration. 

Dr. Madsen Beau De Rochars leans down to inspect records at a mass drug administration (MDA) post at a busy crossroads in Tabarre, Haiti. (Photo: The Carter Center/ Hector Emanuel)

 Public health agents traverse the hills of rural Haiti in search of households with children to test for signs of malaria and lymphatic filariasis. (Photo: The Carter Center/ Emily Staub)

Ani Esther Rapsant, a medicator known to everyone as Lula, discusses drug administration for lymphatic filariasis at a “batey,” or farmworker village, with Dr. Manuel Gonzales of the Dominican Republic’s federal ministry of health.(Photo: The Carter Center/ Emily Staub)