Haiti cholera: aid response ‘inadequate’
An international aid agency says it cannot cope with the increasing number of cholera cases in Haiti. Médecins Sans Frontières says the response has been inadequate and must be stepped up.
More than 1,100 people have died from cholera in Haiti; another 20,000 have fallen sick.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says it is seeing about 600 new cases per day in the north and around 450 in the capital Port-au-Prince.
The charity is struggling to cope with the increasing number of patients and is calling for relief work to be stepped up.
It says critical shortfalls in the response to the cholera epidemic are undermining efforts to stem the ongoing crisis.
“MSF is calling on all groups and agencies present in Haiti to step up the size and speed of their efforts to ensure an effective response to the needs of people at risk of cholera infection,” said Stefano Zannini, MSF head of mission in Haiti.
“More people are needed to treat the sick and implement preventative actions, especially as cases increase dramatically across the country. There is no time left for meetings and debate – the time for action is now.”
Worsening situation
The country is still struggling to recover from the aftermath of a devastating earthquake in January this year, in which 250,000 people died and many more were left homeless.
Haiti was spared the worst of Hurricane Tomas in early November, but flooding caused by the storm has exacerbated the spread of cholera.
MSF says the number of people seeking help in their centres in Port-au-Prince has risen from 350 per week at the start of November to 2,250 per week by November 14.
Health experts predict up to 270,000 people could be affected by cholera within a year.
Save the Children says cholera has hit the epicentre of the earthquake zone, Leogane, where Haiti’s second largest population of displaced people are still living in tents. At least nine cases, including one child, have been reported in the region so far.
Leogane, devastated by January’s earthquake and worst hit by Hurricane Tomas earlier this month, is home to thousands of children living in tents and slums where they are extremely vulnerable to the disease.
Julie Boileau, Save the Children’s field manager in Leogane said: “Conditions in the camp remain tenuous and have presented many challenges to maintaining good hygiene.
“Save the Children is now stepping up activities such as distribution of hygiene supplies and sharing messages on cholera prevention to help people protect themselves and their children from the deadly virus.”
Preventable disease
MSF is calling for a number of areas to be targeted to reduce the spread of cholera across Haiti.
The charity says safely removing waste, properly burying dead bodies and reassuring the population are urgent priorities.
“Cholera is an easily preventable disease,” said Caroline Seguin MSF emergency medical coordinator.
“It may be new to Haiti but the ways to prevent and treat it are long established.
“Without an immediate scale up of necessary measure by international aid agencies and the government of Haiti, we alone cannot contain this outbreak.”
The pictures on this page are from Médecins Sans Frontières and show people in their cholera treatment centres in Haiti.