13 October, 2014
Clinton Global Initiative members joined forces to improve maternal-child health and HIV care for 31,000 vulnerable children, pregnant and lactating women and people living with HIV/AIDS with P&G Purifier of Water Packets.
NEW YORK – As part of its continuing humanitarian effort to improving health conditions for the most vulnerable and impoverished populations in the Dominican Republic, the Batey Relief Alliance (BRA) has partnered with the Procter & Gamble Company (P & G) and its Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program to distribute over a four-year period (2014-17), 90 million liters of clean drinking water to 6,200 families using P&G Purifier of Water packets.
Monte Plata is one of Dominican Republic’s poorest provinces, with 84% of its populations living in poverty. Two of three households are at risk for contamination while handling water due to the use of soiled or improper containers or during transport and storage in the home. Prevalence of diarrhea is high, 39% among children 6-11 and 42% in children 12-23 months of age. According to recent studies, people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) suffer particularly from the health and social impacts of inadequate water and sanitation as their need for clean water, sanitation and hygiene practices increases as they struggle to protect themselves from infections, or cope with the disease symptoms. These statistics could even be much higher inside the bateyes (Dominican sugarcane plantations rural enclaves) due to the isolation of these communities from mainstream studies or government public service radar – and explain why batey residents are doubly vulnerable and even more affected by water insecurity than those living outside of the bateyes. Unaddressed, this level of water insecurity will increase these communities’ vulnerability to preventable diseases, mortality and morbidity and dramatically inhibit their intellectual, professional or societal growth.
This project will be implemented in ten vulnerable rural and “batey” communities within the municipalities of Sabana Grande de Boyá, Yamasá, Monte Plata, Peralvillo and Bayaguana, province of Monte Plata; and will complement BRA’s maternal-child health and HIV/AIDS programs already being carried out in partnership with the Dominican Ministry of Health. BRA will organize, train and dispatch 50 community health promoters to educate entire communities about the proper use and health benefits of the water treatment packets, sanitation and hygiene, prevention techniques against water-borne diseases and HIV/sexually-related infections; and will refer 31,000 residents to BRA Medical Clinics in Batey Cinco Casas to receive comprehensive health and HIV/AIDS care, antiretroviral therapy, nutrition, micronutrients and Antiparasitic medicines.
