Honduras Health News

Honduras's Health Ministry is advising parents to vaccinate infants as young as 6 months old against measles during the current outbreak, with follow-up doses at 12 and 18 months.

Health authorities confirmed a six-month-old infant in Cortés contracted measles, bringing Honduras's total to 12 cases, and warned that vaccination coverage of only 70% falls far short of the 95% needed to prevent a wider outbreak.

Firefighters in Tegucigalpa used a vertical rescue operation to safely evacuate a 61-year-old man from the second floor of a home in the Payaquí neighborhood after he sustained a suspected femur fracture and could not use conventional exits.

Hospital Católico Universitario Nuestra Señora de Suyapa will officially open on July 17–18 with outpatient care, emergency services, clinical labs, imaging (including MRI and CT), and inpatient beds, aiming to expand access to specialized diagnostics and reduce surgical waiting lists.

The capital accounts for 24% of Honduras's 5,064 dengue cases this year, with eight neighborhoods—including San Miguel, La Era, and Nueva Suyapa—showing the highest transmission as health authorities warn young adults aged 20–30 face the greatest risk of severe complications.

Health Ministry authorities confirmed two dengue-related deaths in Choluteca department.

A confirmed measles outbreak in the Cofradía sector of San Pedro Sula has prompted health authorities to deploy 15 daily vaccination brigades and open four fixed vaccination sites, while schools have shifted to remote classes for three weeks to limit spread.

COIPRODEN, representing private child-welfare organizations, warns that hundreds of children in residential care are at risk because the National Child and Family Secretariat (SENAF) has not disbursed promised funds or signed cooperation agreements, threatening the organizations' ability to continue providing shelter and support.

President Nasry Asfura signed an agreement with Spanish firm Dominion to build a 15,000-square-meter hospital in Puerto Cortés with 140 beds and 60 emergency spaces, financed by Denmark's government and a German financial institution, to serve the region's growing population and reduce travel for specialized care.

A woman died Monday from a snake bite, and several other people have also reported being bitten, according to Radio HRN, which also highlights the region's most venomous species.

President Nasry Asfura signed an agreement with Spanish firm Dominion to build a new hospital in Puerto Cortés, aimed at expanding medical capacity in Honduras's northern region.

More than 1,000 adolescent girls become pregnant each year in Honduras, according to Cristina Alvarado, the women's rights defender, highlighting a persistent public-health challenge.

Honduras has confirmed six measles cases, including four in a family that traveled to Copán, with health authorities investigating seven contacts and urging parents to complete vaccination schemes as inoculation coverage lags at 70% of the 95% target.

Health authorities confirmed an 11-year-old girl in Cofradía, Cortés, with measles, bringing the total to 11 cases; she is a classmate of a previously diagnosed student, and health officials are monitoring all school contacts and conducting mass vaccination in the municipality.

Experts debated on national TV whether the Honduran state and families share responsibility for child pregnancy, with one in five adolescents aged 15–19 reported pregnant over the past 15 years.

Four months after Congress approved a health emergency and a trust fund managed by Banco de Occidente, the government transferred L500 million (about $20 million) but has made no drug purchases and completed only 155 surgeries, while hospitals remain 75–78% stocked on basic medicines.

More than 1,000 girls aged 9 to 14 become pregnant each year in Honduras, a crisis the women's rights ombudsman attributes to the lack of comprehensive sex education that leaves adolescents vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

Honduras has recorded 15 whooping cough deaths among infants so far in 2026, health authorities announced.

Three cardiologists have quit Honduras's public health institute (IHSS) citing low wages and lack of permanent appointments, leaving the system with only one cardiologist when officials say five to seven are needed in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula alone.

Honduras has recorded more than 5,000 dengue cases so far in 2026, with one confirmed death, according to the health authority's surveillance chief, prompting fresh public-health alerts.

Honduras's immunization director said a rigorous review of three child deaths following vaccination found no scientific evidence of a causal link, attributing the deaths to preexisting medical conditions, and urged parents to keep children's vaccination schedules current.

An integrated food-security analysis warns that acute food insecurity in Honduras could worsen to 1.8 million people (18% of the population analyzed) between April and July 2026, driven by erratic rains, high grain prices, and depleted household reserves.

Honduras's health system reports a surge in venomous snake bite cases, with Hospital Escuela treating 64 patients this year across eight departments; physicians warn that delays in seeking antivenom treatment can cause permanent organ damage and amputation.

A Health Ministry mobile program called "Healthcare Closer to You" has provided free consultations, lab work, and medications to over 6,000 people in rural areas, with Vice Minister José Miguel Castillo saying it will expand nationwide and prioritize cancer screening for women.

Israeli and Honduran ophthalmologists launched a weeklong surgical brigade at San Felipe Hospital to perform over 200 cataract surgeries, part of a broader effort to clear a multiyear waiting list and reduce Honduras's surgical backlog.

Military personnel from the Puerto Cortés Naval Base coordinated an emergency transfer of a pregnant woman with a high-risk condition from a local hospital to a specialized facility in San Pedro Sula, part of the armed forces' humanitarian assistance program.

Arca de Esperanzas, which provides rehabilitation and therapy to people with neurological disabilities, says the Health Ministry has not signed the agreement to release L3.49 million (about $140,000) approved in the 2026 budget, threatening to suspend services for hundreds of families.

With 63 snake-bite cases reported so far in 2026, Honduras is struggling to stock antivenin serum in hospitals nationwide, a shortage that officials attribute to supplier problems and lack of government prioritization despite deaths from delayed treatment.

Honduras health authorities confirmed two additional deaths from severe dengue, bringing the year's total to three fatalities from the virus.

A 6-month-old in Cofradía, Cortés, became Honduras's twelfth confirmed measles case, linked to four locally transmitted infections in the area; health officials warned that national vaccination coverage remains at only 70%, below the 95% threshold needed to prevent spread.