The Notre Dame Haiti progmam is seeking to scale up efforts to
eliminate Lymphatic Filaraisis (LF) from Haiti by 2013.

Notre Dame is working in collaboration with HSC, CDC and others in
support of the Haitian government's program to
eliminate LF (more commonly known as elephantiasis) from Haiti. WHO
has declared that LF is eliminable and ND has helped to provide
research, technical support and funding through the Gates Foundation
to begin the work. WHO models suggest that drug coverage of 80% of
the population in edemic areas is needed to stop the transmission of
and eliminate the disease. LF is present in 118 of the 133 communes,
and we have so far treated 17 of the 21 communities with the highest
prevalence of infection. To scale up our efforts and to reach the
tageted 80% of the population in endemic areas we are enlisting the
help of US partners twinned with communities in Haiti. Many churches
and organizaations have well-established networks active in Haiti,
many with a medical component, and we are hoping to work through
these channels to reach more people with the medications to eliminate
this disease.

We are hosting an informational meeting at Notre Dame on June 3rd to
share about our work in Haiti and explore partnerships with US
constituents. All persons interested in learning more about this
public health program and how they might be involved are encouraged
and most welcome to attend. Registration and information can be
found at https://marketplace.nd.edu/cce/. We are thrilled that Dr.
Madsen Beaude Rochars, the director of the Lymphatic Filariasis
program in Leogane, will be attending and presenting.

Lastly, Notre Dame has just put two short videos online about their
efforts in Global Health that give a good overview of the work being
done in this area:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcih9xY5OoI and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_QHqz8tHZE

For more information, please visit our website haiti.nd.edu.

Thank you!

Nicole Shirilla
Assitant Program Manager
Haiti Program, University of Notre Dame
http://haiti.nd.edu/
574.631.3273