By Lorraine Gabina – EMTV International
As Haiti continues to sort out its political crisis, a looming health crisis continues to trouble the Caribbean nation – Cholera.
According to the Haitian Ministry of Public Health and Population, the cholera epidemic began 10 months after the devastating earthquake in 2010 and has already seen the outbreak in several thousands of cases this year alone.
The result has been roughly 175 deaths.
In April and May alone, at least 27 Haitians have died. In response, four departments have issued red alerts. Health centres have been set it up in and around Port-au-Prince, among other sites.
The persistent problem has been termed the “largest and most explosive cholera epidemic in modern times,” according to health journal, Outbreak News Today.
The mother of a cholera patient, Viana Michelle, said her child had diarrhea last Sunday. She did not think anything of it and left for work. However, when she returned home, she learned her child was in bad shape and did not attend school on the day. She then took the child to the centre.
Among the challenges aggravating the problem is a lack of proper bathrooms, this is according to Donald Francois, who is in charge of the national coordination to fight the epidemic. He added that funds need to be pumped in and $2 billion is needed for eradication.
That money ought to be shared in three phases, according to the global plan. For the first phase, $450 million was needed. He said they are now on the second phase.
There have been roughly 10,000 deaths since the beginning of the decade as a result of cholera.
Haiti was able to make it through much of the 20th century without a major cholera problem.
And according to the Emerging Infectious Diseases, the estimates of the total number affected might be lower than the actual figure.
