Health

USAID interventions in health focus on improving the quality of services in reproductive health and family planning, prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, household food security, and health sector reform.

In Honduras, fertility, maternal and infant mortality rates are high compared to developed country standards.  Rural/urban and socioeconomic differences show serious inequalities in health services.   USAID is working to address these issues by targeting family planning and obstetric care services, where the need is highest. For more information on the programs, click here: Maternal, Child and Reproductive Health.

HIV/AIDS is a great concern for Honduras.  Honduras’s overall HIV prevalence rate is 0.68% of the total adult population.  Yet, specific most-at-risk populations have significantly higher prevalence rates of between 4 and 10%.  The HIV/AIDS epidemic has severe implications for future economic development, since AIDS-related complications and deaths affect work productivity and the cost of medical care. USAID focuses on HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care, among the most-at-risk populations.
For more information on the programs, click here: HIV/AIDS.

Food security issues in Honduras are heightened by a long term economic crisis. Honduras suffers from high unemployment rates, low incomes, and the elevated cost of food, all of which are important factors in food security.   USAID’s food security program promotes infant and young child nutrition, and access to food through agricultural training and through food distribution. For more information on the programs, click here: Food Security and Health.

The health system of Honduras faces important challenges.  Centralized decision making and limitations in the administration of resources, limit the government’s capacity to respond effectively to health needs.  USAID helps the Ministry of Health expand efforts to transfer the responsibility and the funds of the health care system from the central government to the local government and organizations through a system called decentralization. Decentralization has proven to be an important mean of increasing government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness by increasing local responsibility and control. For more information on the programs, click here: Health Sector Reform.