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Haiti And Bahamas Similarities

Decent Essays

I. Introduction
Haiti and the Bahamas are two Caribbean nations located in the World Health Organization’s region of the Americas. Demographically similar, and located in the same area of the world, one may assume that the two countries’ health statuses are alike. Conversely, there are numerous differences between the two when discussing health care systems and disease prevalence and incidence. As a result of these differences, the variation between the countries’ life expectancies is over ten years. This case study will look into the specific differences related to health status between Haiti and the Bahamas and why these differences lead to a greater life expectancy in the Bahamas.
Both Haiti and the Bahamas are located in the Caribbean. Haiti shares the western third of the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. It is between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean and its size has been compared to that of the state of Maryland (Central Intelligence Agency, 2015a). Haiti experiences a temperate, damp tropical climate for most of the year and has also undergone some extreme weather conditions (“Haiti,” 2015). In 2010, the country experienced the worst earthquake in its …show more content…

Today, Haiti is considered a semi-presidential republic, having both a president and a prime minister. Throughout history though, financial, political, and societal difficulties, in addition to a myriad of natural disasters have beleaguered Haiti with persistent poverty and other troubles. Haiti is home to just over 10 million people. Almost all of Haiti’s citizens are of African descent, as most descended from African slaves. Haiti has no official religion and offers religious freedom to its population. About 50% of the population identifies as being Roman Catholic while the other half practices other Christian denominations (“Haiti,”

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