This grant will fund the purchase of critical equipment and supplies needed to conduct a two week cervical cancer screening effort at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Deschapelles, Haiti, to screen between 1500 - 1800 women, using a Vocational Training Team. This team will be made up of Oncologists, Pathologists, OB/GYNs, Nurse Practitioners and Cytotechnologists. They will not only conduct the two week cervical cancer screening program, but also train an initial team of ten medical and healthcare professionals - two (2) OB/GYNs, two (2) General Practitioners, three (3) Nurse Midwives and three Nurses - in Colposcopy, Cytology and LEEP procedures. The trained team will be the establishment of a permanent cervical cancer screening program at Albert Schweitzer Hospital, and will conduct two cancer screenings per month, treating at least 75 women per screening event.
According to an article published in 2010 by Partners In Health, the largest nongovernmental healthcare provider in Haiti, 3,000 Haitian women will develop cervical cancer annually, and 50% will die from the disease, a mortality rate purported to be 30 - 50 times greater than in the United States where healthcare, in general, and cervical cancer screening, in particular, is readily available.
There are many risk factors which contribute to invasive cervical cancer such as a women's age, socioeconomic status, living in certain geographic regions, access to health care and cytological screening, sexual behavior of the women and her partners, as well as the age of her first sexual intercourse, among many others. The catchment area of Artibonite Region of Haiti where Albert Schweitzer Hospital serves, is estimated to be 350,000 people with women of reproductive age (15 - 49 years) comprising 31.5% or 110,250. This is the specific population which needs to have access to cytology based cervical cancer screening.
According to a 2012 Cancer Prevention Newsletter of the New York Presbyterian Hospital, 'Haiti has the highest reported incidence of cervical cancer of any country in the world, with 94 cases per 100,000 population. Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in Haitian women. Based upon these numbers, 104 women within the catchment area will develop cervical cancer and, with a 50% mortality rate, 52 women will needlessly die.
During our Rotary VTT trip to Haiti last October 2015, during a seven day screening, we screened 708 women. Thirty-five (35) women were identified with cancerous or precancerous lesions and received treatment utilizing LEEP (Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedures). LEEP is a minimally invasive procedure, minimal discomfort process which allows the patient to walk away about 30 minutes after the procedure is complete. In addition, there were nine patients whose cancer was too far progressed for us to provide any meaningful assistance. From these results, cancerous and precancerous patients who we were able to identify and assist were 4.94% of the women screened. Applying this rate to our planned initial VTT screening population of 1,500 - 1,800, would result in identifying and saving 74 - 89 women from dying of cervical cancer.
In addition to the specific list of equipment and supplies needed to conduct a two week cervical cancer screening effort, the grant would also provide for the concurrent training and certification of ten health professionals. Once trained and certified, this group would be able to conduct two screening days per month, treating 75 women each day. This will allow the team to screen 1,800 women additional women each year. Utilizing the same occurrence percentage from last year's VTT, 112 women would annually show cancerous or precancerous results of which 89 could be directly saved, each year.
Completed
This project is "Completed". This means the project has been implemented and the report was accepted by The Rotary Foundation. The project will stay listed on this website as a testimony of the achievements of the project partners.
Project listed for the 2016-17 Rotary Year.
The TRF Grant application number is #16393.
Proposed Financing
Existing Contributions Towards This Project
Date
Cash
DDF
Total
District 5330 DDF
24-May-16
-
$14,592
$14,592
Riverside Sunrise (5330)
30-Jun-16
$5,000
$906
$5,906
Perris (5330)
7-Aug-16
$1,113
$887
$2,000
District 5330 DDF
7-Aug-16
-
$1,800
$1,800
District 5330 DDF
7-Aug-16
-
$1,429
$1,429
District 5330 DDF
7-Aug-16
-
$192
$192
District 5330 DDF
7-Aug-16
-
$250
$250
Corona (5330)
7-Aug-16
$2,000
$0
$2,000
District 5330 DDF
7-Aug-16
-
$1,600
$1,600
District 5330 DDF
7-Aug-16
-
$500
$500
District 5330 DDF
7-Aug-16
-
$3,168
$3,168
District 5330 DDF
7-Aug-16
-
$1,000
$1,000
Anchorage (5010)
15-Sep-16
$6,000
$6,000
$12,000
Monarch Beach Sunrise (5320)
30-Sep-16
$500
$0
$500
Anchorage International (5010)
30-Sep-16
$400
$400
$800
Homer-Kachemak Bay (5010)
30-Sep-16
$1,000
$1,000
$2,000
Amount Requested from The Rotary Foundation
$8,006
$33,724
$41,730
Total
$91,467
DDF contributions in grey are pending approval of the corresponding district committee.
Note: as of July 1, 2015 there is a 5% additional support fee for cash contributions. This fee does not appear in the financials above because it does not apply if the funds are sent directly to the project account (without going through TRF, and therefore without Paul Harris credit). Clubs sending their cash contribution to TRF must be aware they will have to send an additional 5%.
Pledge of $5,923 DDF by Nyron McLean of the Rotary Club of Riverside Sunrise, District 5330.
24-May-16
System Entry
Pledge of by Nyron McLean of the Rotary Club of Riverside Sunrise, District 5330.
30-Jun-16
System Entry
Pledge of $5,000 with $23,402 DDF by Nyron McLean of the Rotary Club of Riverside Sunrise, District 5330.
7-Aug-16
by Nyron McLean
System Entry: Pledge of $1,429 DDF by Tom Evan of the Rotary Club of Riverside East, District 5330.
7-Aug-16
by Nyron McLean
System Entry: Pledge of $1,113 with $887 DDF by Steve Yager of the Rotary Club of Perris, District 5330.
7-Aug-16
by Nyron McLean
System Entry: Pledge of $1,800 DDF by Jose Ponce of the Rotary Club of Norco/Eastvale, District 5330.
7-Aug-16
by Nyron McLean
System Entry: Pledge of $1,429 DDF by Tom Evan of the Rotary Club of Riverside East, District 5330.
7-Aug-16
by Nyron McLean
System Entry: Pledge of $1,429 DDF by Tom Evan of the Rotary Club of Riverside East, District 5330.
7-Aug-16
by Nyron McLean
System Entry: Pledge of $192 DDF by Linda Hanley of the Rotary Club of San Gorgonio Pass (Banning), District 5330.
7-Aug-16
by Nyron McLean
System Entry: Pledge of $250 DDF by Trinidad Arredondo of the Rotary Club of Coachella Valley, District 5330.
7-Aug-16
by Nyron McLean
System Entry: Pledge of $2,000 by Daniel Hake of the Rotary Club of Corona, District 5330.
7-Aug-16
by Nyron McLean
System Entry: Pledge of $1,600 DDF by Lyle Barkley of the Rotary Club of Lake Arrowhead Mountain Sunrise, District 5330.
7-Aug-16
by Nyron McLean
System Entry: Pledge of $500 DDF by Mike Noon of the Rotary Club of Temecula, District 5330.
7-Aug-16
by Nyron McLean
System Entry: Pledge of $3,168 DDF by Al Vollbrecht of the Rotary Club of Murrieta, District 5330.
7-Aug-16
by Nyron McLean
System Entry: Pledge of $1,000 DDF by Sandy Klein of the Rotary Club of Corona Circle City, District 5330.
15-Sep-16
by Karl Schroeder
System Entry: Pledge of $6,000 with $6,000 DDF by Karl Schroeder of the Rotary Club of Anchorage, District 5010.
30-Sep-16
System Entry
System Entry: Pledge of $500 by Margarita Martin of the Rotary Club of Monarch Beach Sunrise, District 5320.
30-Sep-16
System Entry
System Entry: Pledge of $400 with $400 DDF by Karl Schroeder of the Rotary Club of Anchorage International, District 5010.
30-Sep-16
System Entry
System Entry: Pledge of $1,000 with $1,000 DDF by Clyde Boyer of the Rotary Club of Homer-Kachemak Bay, District 5010.
30-Sep-16
System Entry
System Entry: Project is now "Fully Pledged".
17-Jan-17
by Chehab Elawar
This grant was submitted to RI
17-Jan-17
by Nyron McLean
System Entry: Application Sent to The Rotary Foundation through Member Access.
2-Apr-17
by Nyron McLean
Grants involving Haiti have an additional oversight and approval step as part of the Rotary authorization process, involving the Haiti Task Force. This additional scrutiny, while detailed and time consuming, ensures the need and integrity of all projects involving Haiti. This project has just received the final and full approval of the Haiti Task Force oversight committee today, and will now complete the remaining steps of approval at the Rotary Foundation.
26-Apr-17
by Nyron McLean
Good morning. Just a quick update. We received an email from The Rotary Foundation asking us to amend a section of our budget to realign it with the new team size, add some more training opportunities to some of the team member and to rewrite our existing MOU using the most recently updated TRF MOU form. We are in the process of making these recommendations and will be submitting these final items to TRF momentarily. Thank you.......Nyron
17-Jul-17
by Nyron McLean
Good evening. This is an update to all regarding an updated status on this grant.
TRF responded to our submission with a request to update some forms (VTT member profiles and the grant MOU) to the new TRF templates, as well as revise and update some VTT participants due to changes in their availability during the proposed grant period, and one key OB/GYN lead may have to be removed due to a major traffic accident which left her with broken ribs, a broken pelvis and traumatic brain injuries.
I just returned from Haiti on Friday where I was able to obtain the updated MOU utilizing the new TRF template. Thank you to Rubens Paul and our host partners at the Rotary Club of Verrettes who expedited that process. We will be submitting these final items to TRF within the next week...Nyron
29-Jul-17
by Nyron McLean
Good morning. We received word from The Rotary Foundation that our grant has been approved. Thank you all for your support and your patience. We will be providing information on the final steps for you to release your funding. Thank you for helping us change lives and save lives in Haiti.......Nyron
27-Aug-17
by Nyron McLean
Thank you for your support of program. We now need for those of you who pledged cash, or cash in addition to your DDF, to send your contribution to The Rotary Foundation according to their procedure. Please use this contribution form https://www.rotary.org/myrotary/en/document/contribution-form-rotary-foundation to submit all cash contributions for your grant. Be sure to note the global grant number GG1639367 on the form. For faster service, click https://map.rotary.org/en/securememberservices/pages/SelectFundR.aspx?FUND=GRNT to submit contributions online. The Foundation’s funding model requests that cash donors to all grants submitted on or after 1 July 2015, contribute an additional 5% for cash contributions made to the Foundation, to help offset processing and administrative costs.
27-Aug-17
by Nyron McLean
System Entry: Application approved by The Rotary Foundation.
6-Oct-17
by Nyron McLean
Good evening. The Rotary Foundation has informed me that some clubs have not yet forwarded their cash pledged for this grant, to the Rotary Foundation. We cannot proceed with acquiring the equipment and supplies needed for this project until all funds have been received at The Rotary Foundation. Please take a moment now and forward the funds right away. Thank you.......Nyron McLean
24-Dec-17
by Nyron McLean
Good Christmas Eve to you all. The funding of our project has been delayed due to challenges faced in establishing a bank account for our global grant in Haiti. Recent changes in banking regulations significantly increased the complexity and cost of establishing a commercial bank account in Haiti. Despite violent protests against the newly proposed tax increases which included national transportation strikes, our host club, the Rotary Club of Verrettes, has been able to persevere and finally address the additional paperwork requirements and our club, the Rotary Club of Riverside Sunrise, has voted to address the new increased fees. We expect to have the bank account established within the first two weeks in January,which will allow The Rotary Foundation to be able to fund this project.
8-Mar-18
by Nyron McLean
Good afternoon. The bank account in Haiti for this global grant has finally been successfully opened by the host club, the Rotary Club of Verrettes. Thank you to the club officers who have persevered with ridiculously arduous banking procedures for many months, to get this done. We can now proceed with funding by the Rotary Foundation.
19-Apr-18
by Nyron McLean
Thank you to everyone for your support. This project has been fully funded by The Rotary Foundation, and our cervical cancer team will be in Haiti on Saturday, May 26th.......Nyron
19-Apr-18
by Nyron McLean
System Entry: Payment has been issued by The Rotary Foundation.
18-Nov-18
by Nyron McLean
Good afternoon. During May 26th - June 9th, our vocational training team from across the U.S. successfully conducted Phase 1 of our Cervical Cancer Screening & Training global grant. We screened over 900 women and trained ten (10) medical professionals from the Albert Schweitzer Hospital (HAS) in cervical cancer screening, and using Colposcopy, VIA (visual inspection with acetic acid) and Cryotherapy to address abnormal outcomes.
On November 28th, our VTT team leads will return to Haiti for a planned 6-month review of the program-to-date, with the trainees, who have continued to conduct monthly clinics, and (HAS) management. We will observe November's 2-day clinic & review the successes and opportunities for improvement. Here is a link to a video created: https://youtu.be/BM64-nICyUM.
2-Jul-19
by Nyron McLean
Since September 2018, Haiti has been rocked with civil unrest resulting in blocked roads, riots, fuel shortages, government office closures, national strikes, the removal of the 2nd Prime Minister and the blocking of approval for the 3rd Prime Ministerial nominee. All of this resulted from several key elements which can be read from the links below:
Part of this grant involves getting biopsies to Port au Prince to be analyzed there, as well as getting pap smear slides to our team at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, to have those slides read and determinations made. With civil unrest rampant, transportation systems periodically shut down or communication networks often unavailable, things have become a little more challenging. Dr. Marc Debay, one of our team leads, will be traveling to Haiti at the end of July to meet with the new team at HAS to review the final steps to completion. The other team leads and I will go down to complete the grant process and close things out with the Host Rotary Club of Verrettes sometime in August. I will post another update within the next 45 days..........Nyron
25-Apr-20
by Nyron McLean
Good afternoon. Despite the many challenges that Haiti has faced during the last 18 months including political instability (they are on their fifth Prime Minister within the last three years), civil unrest due to allegations of a multi-billion dollar fraud supported by or committed by members of the government, severe fuel shortages which brought the country to a standstill for months, and wanton crime which prompted the U.S. State Department to issue a Level 4 warning against travel to the country, our teams persevered in finishing this project. The completion of the project was not as originally outlined, but given the circumstances, we adapted and succeeded. The team is working on inputting the final report into the Rotary Grant system. We thank you for your continued support.
16-Nov-20
by Nyron McLean
System Entry: Final Report sent to The Rotary Foundation.
3-Jun-21
by Nyron McLean
System Entry: Final Report approved by The Rotary Foundation.
