Overview:
Haiti’s Ministry of Public Well being and Inhabitants organized a march in Cap-Haïtien on April 12 to advertise train, more healthy consuming, and hygiene amongst residents. The occasion introduced collectively a number of medical college students, docs, nurses, and schoolchildren, aiming to encourage a whole bunch of contributors via workout routines, messages, songs, and dances.
CAP-HAÏTIEN — Tons of of residents marched via the streets of Cap-Haïtien on April 12 as a part of a Ministry of Public Well being and Inhabitants (MSPP) marketing campaign to advertise more healthy existence. The occasion, held throughout the ministry’s declared Well being Week on the story finish of what’s referred to as Nationwide Transfer Extra month within the U.S., inspired Haitians to train usually, eat nutritious meals and follow good hygiene to fight sicknesses like hypertension and diabetes.
Contributors—medical college students, docs, nurses, and youngsters amongst them—walked, danced, squatted and jogged their means from Road 5 to Road 90 alongside The Boulevard, a stretch roughly one mile lengthy. They held banners with slogans in Creole similar to Sante se avni’m (“Well being is my future”), Meyè bwason ki genyen se dlo (“The perfect beverage is water”) and Prevansyon pi bon ke gerizon (“Prevention is best than treatment”).
“We are able to’t let individuals get sick as a result of we don’t have sufficient hospitals within the nation,” mentioned Dr. Hans Charles, director of the Northern Well being Division. “In the event that they comply with our recommendation—to train, eat wholesome, and wash their arms—we could have a more healthy inhabitants and improve life expectancy.”
Based on 2023 World Bank knowledge, Haiti ranks twenty seventh from the underside globally in common life expectancy, with an average of 65 years. Dr. Charles cited this statistic as one of many causes the ministry launched the march, calling for a cultural shift in well being habits.
The march additionally featured a bodily coach main attendees in group workout routines. Music blasted from a pickup truck, energizing the gang as they sang about washing arms and sneezing into elbows. Many attendees smiled, laughed and danced whereas selling their trigger.
“This is among the only a few public well being marches we’ve had in recent times in Cap-Haïtien,” Dr. Charles famous.
Past the march, the Well being Week marketing campaign included a well being convention, blood donations by 27 residents, and free consultations at Hôpital Universitaire Justinien. Dr. Charles mentioned the ministry plans to carry ongoing bodily actions like soccer video games to proceed selling public well being.
“Well being is wealth,” mentioned Yveton Michel Alciannas, a scholar chief on the College of Saint-Francois d’Assise of the Northern Campus. “You may need cash, however if you happen to’re not wholesome, you received’t be glad. Well being comes at the start else.”
Relive the well being ministry’s march in Cap-Haïtien in photographs and movies beneath.


![Two women during the Ministry of Public Health and of the Population’s march in Cap-Haïtien on April 12, 2025. One of the women [left] is looking into her phone’s camera while holding the peace sign while the other one [right] is holding a sign that reads Piramid Alimantè Ayisyen, Creole for “Haitian Food Pyramid.” Photo by Onz Chéry/ The Haitian Times.](https://i0.wp.com/haitiantimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/sante102.jpg?resize=780%2C642&ssl=1)


![Two women are pictured during the Ministry of Public Health and of the Population’s march in Cap-Haïtien on April 12, 2025. One of them [right] is dancing while holding her phone, while the other one is smiling at the camera. Photo by Onz Chéry/ The Haitian Times.](https://i0.wp.com/haitiantimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/sante83.jpg?resize=780%2C527&ssl=1)
