In Port-au-Prince, Weekend Clinic Hours Make All the Difference
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Vaccination sessions in Port-au-Prince. Credit: JSI
Berger Mimose, a mother of four in the Drouillard community in Port-au-Prince, faces a challenge all too familiar to parents: juggling work demands and family responsibilities with little room left for weekday errands. For Mimose, those squeezed-out errands have included visits to the health centre to get her kids vaccinated. “During the week, I don’t have time,” she says, explaining that the standard clinic hours clashed with her busy schedule.
That’s a familiar challenge for working people in Haiti, and beyond – but one with potentially dire consequences, as, despite progress in the country, many children remain exposed to preventable illnesses. In 2017, the Gavi-funded and JSI-implemented Haiti Urban Immunization project began to trial a simple fix.
Collaborating with health officials and community leaders, the project listened to parents to understand the barriers they faced, and determined that extending clinic hours to weekends could be the solution. Based on results of an equity study from the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP), conducted in 2017, JSI, in collaboration with the MSPP and commune health managers, selected 21 health centers to try out a revised working schedule.
Health care workers re-programed their activities, incorporating Saturdays and Sundays into their work plans. Parents could bring their children for immunization on Saturdays and Sundays. For Mimose, one such Saturday brought much needed relief. Her young child had been battling persistent vomiting, and she recalls the sense of reassurance when a health care worker not only administered a vaccine to her child but also provided oral rehydration salts. “My child recovered. It was a blessing,” she says.
Coverage leaps
This adjustment is particularly crucial for families in Delmas and Cité Soleil, two communes located in the capital Port-au-Prince, where vaccination coverage is critically low. With 21 sites implementing extra hours, the results are remarkable. In Cité Soleil, the number of children vaccinated with Penta 3 has significantly increased, rising from 3,167 in 2017 to over 5,400 in 2023.
Mimose’s story is just one of many, reflecting a widespread sense of relief among parents. Thamara Manius, a working mother juggling tight schedules, highlights the difference, “Extra work hours [at the clinic] are very good for me because I have time to take my child for vaccinations on time and when needed.” Desir Thaysha, a caregiver struggling to balance a full roster of daily commitments, underscores the importance of accessibility: “Sometimes we can’t come during normal hours. The extra hours help us so that children don’t miss doses.” Verdieu Andresse, another caregiver, emphasizes the broader impact: “It allows us to get our children vaccinated on any day. For people who work or sell throughout the week, it ensures that all children get vaccinated on time.” These voices capture the profound relief and reassurance that extended hours bring to parents across these communities.