Top Priorities for Haiti

Electricity reform, child nutrition, and immunization should be prioritized by decision-makers, an eminent panel including Haitian economic experts and a Nobel laureate economist announced today, after studying new research written for Haiti Priorise.

Ketleen Florestal, P.J. Raymond Magloire, Kesner Pharel, and Vernon Smith considered 85 proposals to improve Haiti’s environmental, social and economic wellbeing, in 45 new research papers. Based on studying this evidence and interviewing the Haitian and international economists, the panel recommends five priorities:

• Reforming the electricity utility to create long-run savings of 4.7 billion gourdes per year.
• Fortifying wheat flour with micronutrients to prevent 150 newborn deaths and 260,000 cases of anemia each year.
• Increasing access to early childhood education for 258,000 children per year, leading to a lifelong increase in earnings worth 115 billion gourdes.
• Training first responders to save 700 lives each year.
• Amplifying infant immunization coverage to 90%, to save 16,500 lives over the next nine years.

Bjorn Lomborg discusses the research in the Huffington post. Lire l'article en français au Le Nouvelliste.