Submitted by freenet on Sun, 24/10/2010 - 22:55
CHANNELS:
United Nations - The humanitarian community has mobilised its resources to help the Haitian government respond to an outbreak of cholera in the western region of the small Caribbean country.
Medical supplies are being provided and teams of health workers rushing to the affected area, a senior UN humanitarian official said on Friday.
"The point is that cholera deaths are preventable, and we are doing everything we can to assist the Haitian authorities to prevent further deaths," Catherine Bragg, UN Deputy Emergency Coordinator, said after a visit to Haiti.
Figures provided by the Haitian government indicate that more than 1 500 cases of cholera, with the disease having claimed the lives of 138 people.
Humanitarian agencies already have 300 000 doses of antibiotics in the country ready for distribution, Bragg said, stressing that the spread of cholera can also be curbed by improving the availability of clean water, using soap to wash hands before meals, and improving sanitation.
The cholera epidemic has been reported around Saint-Marc in the Artibonite department, far from the camps hosting hundreds of thousands of people who lost their homes following the devastating earthquake on January 12 this year.
Some 10 000 boxes of water purification tablets, 2 500 jerry cans and the same number of buckets and hygiene kits are being distributed in the affected area, the official noted.
On the humanitarian response to the earthquake, Bragg said that a great deal has been accomplished by the government, the humanitarian community and their partners.
"If you go back and look at what we committed to do in the Consolidated Appeal launched 72 hours after the earthquake, and revised three months after that, we have actually done what we set out to do," she said.
"All the strategic objectives and targets set for providing life-saving humanitarian assistance have been met, or we are on track to meet them," she added.
At the same time, the UN official also pointed out that there have been no major outbreaks of infectious diseases in Haiti in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, nor has there been a "second wave" of deaths feared six months ago, when it was thought that the massive displacement might lead to hunger and exposure-related diseases and other illnesses which would claim many lives.
"Unfortunately now we are responding to a cholera outbreak, but we need to note that the healthcare, sanitation and clean water provided since the earthquake have saved many, many lives," Bragg said.
However, she stressed that a lot more needs to be done, with "truly awful" conditions in some of the camps.
"We should expect a significant humanitarian operation is still going to be needed in Haiti in 2011," she said.
"Recovery efforts have to be accelerated to phase out the humanitarian work, but given the amount that still needs to happen in terms of rehabilitating housing, removing rubble, and re-establishing basic services in areas people are returning to, even in the best case this is not going to happen overnight." - BuaNews-Xinhua