The impoverished Dominicans, Haitians and others who live in sugar cane labour plantations in the Dominican Republic, call their communities “bateyes.” Roughly translated, the word means camps.
There are 220 state-owned bateyes in the country, where approximately 200,000 people, mainly of Haitian migrant descent, live. Their housing consists of densely populated shacks, often situated next to large dumps or open sewers. In some bateyes there is no electri- city or running water. There are also no hospitals or means to basic healthcare — an environment that creates optimal conditions for disease.
Since the Haitians who originally filled the bateyes were not legal immigrants, their children are often denied citizenship papers — even if they were born in the country — making it extremely difficult to access the mainstream health care system.
Hydration essential for health
The subset of the batey population most affected by poverty is the children. According to Dr. Dario Del Rizzo, a cardiologist from Ontario who goes on medical missions to the country every year, 50 per cent of children under the age of two suffer from chronic diarrhea due to contaminated water.
Dr. Del Rizzo frequently brings Physican Travel Packs (PTPs) with him on missions, supplied through Health Partners International of Canada (HPIC). The bulk of the medicine goes to a cli-nic in Consuelo, which serves about 20,000 people and provides medical care for 22 bateyes.
During a 2008 mission, Dr. Del Rizzo set up a clinic at three of the bateyes. “There were several children that we saw that had diarrhea and we used Gastrolyte in these cases. To be able to rehydrate them is absolutely essential,” he says. The medicine was generously donated to the PTP by sanofi-aventis, a regular contributor to HPIC.
“The medications that we bring down through the fantastic work that HPIC does are absolutely essential,” says Dr. Del Rizzo. Both he and the clinic's doctor say they can meet almost all of the population's acute care needs with the array of medicines provided in the PTPs, for which the patients and staff are very grateful.
Along with Gastrolyte, sanofi-aventis provides other medicines to the PTPs regularly. To date, the company has donated $14 million worth of medicines for HPIC to help vulnerable people in developing countries around the world.
“As proud, long-standing partners of HPIC, sanofi-aventis and sanofi pasteur are committed to donating medications and vaccines to help the most underprivileged populations,” says Hugh O'Neill, President and CEO of sanofi-aventis Canada. “As an extension of our work as biopharmaceutical companies and as part of our social responsibility, we aim to reduce inequalities and work towards equitable access to healthcare worldwide.”
