Ambulatory medical care in rural Haiti.

Introduction: In 2005, a team of U.S. physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, emergency medical technicians and lay support personnel provided health services in an isolated town in rural Haiti.
Methods: During one week, the team saw 788 patients. They recorded age, sex, vital signs, diagnoses, and treatments in an electronic database. A descriptive analysis is presented.
Results: Intestinal parasitosis was the third most common diagnosis overall, and the most common diagnosis for children. For adults aged 50 years or older, 52% of women and 37% of men had elevated blood pressures, significantly more than adults aged 15-49 years.
Discussion: This paper focuses on intestinal parasitosis and hypertension. Periodic anti-helminthic treatment and community sanitation are discussed as ways to reduce the burden of parasites and secondary malnutrition. Challenges to implementing a sustainable antihypertensive program are discussed, including patient education, medication availability and prioritization, and adequate follow-up in a very austere rural setting.