U.N. and Haiti launch $145 million appeal to deal with rising cholera and hunger
Cholera is continuing to spread across Haiti, where roads controlled by gangs continue to make providing assistance costly and dangerous. To fund a response to the spread of the disease, the government of Haiti and the United Nations have launched an appeal for $145.6 million to support the country’s emergency response to provide lifesaving assistance to 1.4 million people in the worstaffected areas.
As of Monday, Haiti’s Ministry of Public Health and Population reported 8,708 suspected cases of cholera, a waterborne-disease that causes diarrhea and vomiting and can lead to death. Authorities have confirmed 802 cases and reported 161 deaths.
Jeanty Fils Exalus, a spokesperson for the health ministry, said one of the challenges that Haiti faces is that many people refuse to accept they have been infected.
“A lot of people say it’s gas or hunger to explain their symptoms,” he said during a radio interview on Monday. “They don’t go to the hospital and only go when they feel they can no longer manage ... and when they arrive their case is really serious.”
With the World Health Organization reporting that 500,000 Haitians are at risk of contracting cholera, U.N. officials are worried that the outbreak could reach the level of the 2010 outbreak, which led to nearly 10,000 deaths and over 800,000 cases. The outbreak occurred after cholera was introduced by U.N. peacekeepers 10 months after the country’s devastating earthquake.
Haitian health officials and the U.N. thought the country was on the road to eradicating the disease after three and a half years without a confirmed case. But on Oct. 2, Haitian health officials reported two cases in the Cité Soleil slum. An armed conflict between gangs in the slum’s Brooklyn neighborhood in July left more than 470 people dead, wounded or missing, according to the U.N. The fighting also hampered access to potable water and garbage pickup, leaving the population vulnerable to waterborne diseases.
The problem grew worse when a gang attacked the country’s main fuel terminal in mid-September, blocking the flow of diesel, gas and propane for two months and forcing waterproduction companies to temporarily shut down operations.
The U.N. said its aid workers and partners need the funding to support national authorities in their efforts to contain the spread of cholera while addressing urgent hunger, nutrition and security needs in the most-affected areas.
Ulrika Richardson, Haiti’s U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator, said national institutions have put together a strategy to respond to the outbreak with support from the international humanitarian communities, but the surge in cases in recent weeks and the rapid spread of cholera are “worrying.”
In less than a month, the number of suspected cases has gone from 1,752 to 8,708.
The epidemic is just one more crisis in an already alarming situation in Haiti, where an increase in kidnappings and violence by gangs has plunged the country into one of its worst security, humanitarian and political crises in decades.
The latest analysis by the U.N. shows that 4.7 million people, nearly half the population, do not know where their next meal is coming from. The figures include 19,000 people who for the first time in recent Haitian history are facing catastrophic levels of hunger.
In addition, at least 200,000 more children have been pushed into crisis levels of hunger since March, the charity Save the Children said in a separate media release.
“The situation in Haiti is rapidly deteriorating,” said Chantal-Sylvie Imbeault, Save the Children’s country director in Haiti. “Millions of children are going to bed hungry every night, and for the first time ever, we’re
seeing children face famine-like conditions.”
Imbeault said the charity’s teams are already seeing the devastating toll that the hunger crisis and cholera outbreak are having on children.
“We urge the international community to continue providing support to fully address the country’s humanitarian needs and ensure the children can fight cholera and hunger,” she said.
While fuel has started to flow again after two months, life remains chaotic and unpredictable. Schools are still not fully open, a new wave of kidnappings is being reported,
and the main roads linking the capital to the rest of the country remain under the control and influence of heavily armed gangs.
On Monday, a convoy of vehicles from the U.S. Embassy, the Haiti National Police and businesses was attacked by individuals who fired shots at them. A U.S. State Department spokesperson confirmed the attack but said no embassy personnel were injured. However, a Haitian commercial driver accompanying the convoy suffered non-lifethreatening injuries.
‘‘ MILLIONS OF CHILDREN ARE GOING TO BED HUNGRY EVERY NIGHT, AND FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, WE’RE SEEING CHILDREN FACE FAMINE-LIKE CONDITIONS. Chantal-Sylvie Imbeault, Save the Children’s country director in Haiti