Vitamin Angels collaborative efforts enhance maternal, infant and child services and improve health

Despite rising levels of political and environmental instability, Vitamin Angels has built a strong network of program and technical partners, including the Ministry of Public Health and Population of Haiti (MSPP). We have partners in every province within the country, allowing us to uplift and amplify the work our partners are doing to enhance maternal, infant, and young child support across the entire nation. Additionally, we have collaborated with various governmental and non-governmental partners in Haiti, including the MSPP, the Haitian Health Foundation, and academic research institutions to conduct research and test different strategies to improve maternal, infant, and young child health.

The success of Vitamin Angels’ programs in Haiti can be attributed to the strength of their diverse partnerships and their continued commitment to public health.”

Elizabeth Carrera, Senior Program Officer, Latin America and the Caribbean

Distributing Evidence-Based Nutrition Interventions

Vitamin Angels delivers a complete package of nutrition interventions to improve nutrition during the critical period between pregnancy and five years of age. We provide:

• Multiple micronutrient supplementation (MMS)—also known as prenatal multivitamins—to improve pregnancy and birth outcomes
• Vitamin A Supplementation and Deworming (VAS+D) for children under age 5. Vitamin A supports healthy growth and development, a stronger immune system, and healthy vision, which is often paired with deworming to rid children of parasitic intestinal worms and allow a child to better absorb critical nutrients, including vitamin A.

We also deliver learning solutions, technical support, and innovative supply chain solutions to ensure mothers, infants, and young children in Haiti maintain access despite road blocks, or sometimes unsafe or harsh environments.

Building Consensus

In addition to nonprofit and community partners, we regularly collaborate with a range of technical stakeholders, government partners, and local initiatives and working groups in Haiti like the nutrition technical committee led by the Ministry of Public Health and Population of Haiti (MSPP).

The convening of stakeholders and technical advisors helps to build consensus and establish better health equity and a welcoming environment for underserved pregnant women, infants, and children within Haiti.

Contributing to Research

We collaborate with various governmental and non-governmental partners in Haiti, including the MSPP, the Haitian Health Foundation, and academic research institutions to test different strategies to improve uptake and adherence to MMS among pregnant women.

Working Addresses Barriers

Haitians have experienced increased challenges due to COVID-19 and the deteriorating security context. Vitamin Angels Haiti continues to connect program partners with essential nutrition interventions and services and has remained nimble in the face of these challenges, implementing new innovative strategies.

Adapting to Evolving Challenges

In recent years, political instability and increasing violence have yielded new challenges that pose direct logistical challenges to our ongoing efforts. Ground travel between the capital, Port au Prince, and the rest of the country is virtually impossible due to road blocks and gang violence.

To overcome these obstacles and continue reaching women and children with essential nutrition interventions, Vitamin Angels’ Haiti team has adapted by developing and implementing creative solutions. For example, this year we have partnered with the MOH to secure UN helicopters to transfer product to otherwise inaccessible areas. It is through this type of collaboration, commitment, and innovation that the Vitamin Angels Haiti team has been able to maintain steady and secure support for underserved pregnant women, infants, and children in Haiti.

Our Future

Haiti continues to face a challenging path forward but the Vitamin Angels team is working to develop agile approaches that support:

• Scale-up our social behavior change (SBC) strategy for toward optimal uptake and adherence of MMS among pregnant women,
• Build stronger partnerships by increasing communication and engagement with existing and new program partners, and
• Integrate and expand the availability of evidence-based nutrition interventions within the local context, including by adapting and evolving our logistics capacity.