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HONDURAS HEALTH FACTS

Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.

The World Bank estimates that more than 50% of the Honduran population lives in poverty, and almost 50% lack access to safe water.

An estimated 25% of all Honduran children under the age of five suffer from malnutrition.

In 1998, Hurricane Mitch compounded the health, nutrition, and economic problems of the nation, destoying much of its infrastructure.

Honduras is plagued by some of the highest rates of tropical infections and parasitic diseases in the Western Hemisphere.

Global Medicine and Health

GW Team Visits Honduras on Hookworm Vaccine Initiative Mission

Hookworm infection is a major public health problem in many developing countries. A team from GW Medical Center traveled to one such country, Honduras, for a four-day fact-finding site visit. The trip was part of the Sabin Vaccine Institute-sponsored Hookworm Vaccine Initiative (HVI).

The objective of the visit, according to Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, professor and chair of microbiology and tropical medicine, was to establish a long-term collaboration on the Hookworm Vaccine Initiative in the Western Hemisphere. The HVI already has an ongoing collaboration in China. He was accompanied during the visit by John Hawdon, PhD, associate professor of microbiology and tropical medicine, and Ray Loomis, senior business administrator for the department.

Along with its poverty and malnutrition, Honduras is plagued with some of the highest rates of tropical infections and parasitic diseases in the Western Hemisphere. The GW team hopes to partner with the Honduras Ministry of Health and La Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras on building research infrastructure and scientific training within the country.

The team visited a number of villages in Olancho, Honduras's largest state, which borders Nicaragua. They also visited the teaching hospital of La Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras. A highlight of the visit was the opportunity to meet twice with Mary de Flores, the first lady of Honduras, who, with the Ministry of Health, has plans to build of a state-of-the-art pediatric specialty hospital in Tegucigalpa.

According to the research team's findings, Honduras has high prevalence rates of hookworm infection. The presence of both hookworm species in Honduras affords an unusual opportunity to investigate differences in them in a setting relatively easily accessible to the HVI researchers.

(Children in poor rural areas are at the heart of the Hookworm Vaccine Initiative's research. Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, left, and John Hawdon, PhD met many village youngsters.)

 

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