Medical AID FOR THE POOR

what we do and how you can help.

AmeriHand  is a 501 c (3) non-profit public charity operating in rural poverty stricken areas of the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Central America where many residents don't have access to proper medical care.

AmeriHand currently has 12 Doctors that volunteer their time and provide free medical treatment to the rural poor.

AmeriHand's volunteer Doctors in the Dominican Republic main goal is to identify sick or at risk children and treat them, but no one is refused treatment if treatment is possible.

We travel through small towns and villages and try and combine our labor by giving out shoes to all the barefoot children we encounter to combat infections, hookworm and other parasitic diseases. More than half of the small children we encounter have no shoes. (see video on home page)

Our biggest challenge is having enough medications to treat patients. We always have broad based antibiotics such as Ampicillin, but when a specific antibiotic is needed, we usually don't have it. We always need antibiotics, as well IV kits and saline as the only treatment for dengue fever is rehydration and acetaminophen

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The majority of people our Doctors are treating in 2018 are people infected with Dengue Fever or the Chikungunya virus. Both are very painful mosquito-borne diseases. We also see many infected open wounds that go untreated because the person can't afford treatment. Now there is a general panic, especially among pregnant young women, since the first reported cases of zika. The same mosquito that causes dengue and chikungunya is responsible for transmitting the zika virus and is common on Hispaniola.

Health officials in the Dominican Republic have issued an alert as the number of dengue fever deaths continue to rise.

The Ministry of Health says there have been more than 17,220 cases of dengue fever in this year. 4,800 more than at the same time last year. In Haiti no official dengue fever statistics are available because the health care infrastructure is in shambles.

Dengue cases usually flare up from August to January. The mosquito-borne virus causes fever, severe headaches and extreme joint and muscle pain and death in about 10% of the cases. Usually the very young or very old are the fatalities.

Another epidemic our Doctors are dealing with in the Dominican Republic and Haiti is the Chikungunya virus ...a devastating mosquito borne disease that is so painful that victims can barely move or walk because of excruciating joint pain.

Government mosquito eradication programs are only being implemented in the cities, leaving 50% of the population to fend for themselves

READ MORE: Chikungunya: What you should know before your tropical vacation

In Haiti we are trying to help stop the spread of cholera through education and help those stricken regain their health.

The current state of medicine in Haiti is shocking. Government health care infrastructure is gone. In the rural interior of the country access to modern health care is non existent except for what is offered by NPOs like Amerihand and others

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The state of medical care in Haiti is dire

•  One in three Haitians die from a preventable disease
• 10,000 dead from cholera caused by lack of basic sanitation, potable water and simple information.
• Infant mortality rate 250%+ higher than other Caribbean nations
• 1 in 10 children die before they reach the age of five.
• World’s highest rate of maternal mortality, malnutrition and HIV/AIDS.

We humbly ask for any assistance you can provide. Whether it is a $5 or $10 donation, shoes or goods. We truly appreciate it and so do the people we help.