UN and partners mobilize aid after cholera outbreak in Haiti

[News_Editor]

UN and partners mobilize aid after cholera outbreak in Haiti

2010-10-23 05:51:37 GMT+7 (ICT)

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations on Friday announced that along humanitarian agencies has begun the mobilization of its resources to aid the cholera outbreak in Haiti.

"The point here is that cholera deaths are preventable, and we are doing everything we can to assist the Haitian authorities to prevent further deaths," Catherine Bragg, Deputy Emergency Coordinator.

The United Nations has gathered medical supplies that are being provided to the Haitian government and teams of health workers were rushed to the western region of the Caribbean nation.

So far, approximately 1,500 cases of cholera have been detected and the disease has killed 138 people. Humanitarian agencies already have 300,000 doses of antibiotics in the in country ready for distribution.

Bragg added that the spread of cholera can be prevented by improving the availability of clean water, the use of soap to wash hands before meals and improving sanitation services. She added that 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 cholera epidemic has been reported around Saint-Marc in the Artibonite department, far from the site of the devastating earthquake last January.

"We are all conscious of the shortcomings of the response and the extremely difficult conditions which many of the earthquake survivors are still living in, but the magnitude of what has been achieved should not be forgotten," Bragg declared.

The UN official added that there have been no major outbreaks of infectious diseases in Haiti in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake or a second wave of deaths as it was feared approximately six months ago. However, she stressed that the region is in need of major improvements to prevent future tragedies.

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