The 1.3 million people displaced by January’s massive earthquake in Haiti are bracing for the arrival of tropical storm Tomas, which is heading for the Caribbean island and is gathering strength. People living in tents since their houses were destroyed by the earthquake are hoping that the storm will give the capital Port-au-Prince a miss, but weather experts are saying the deforested half-island is prone to flooding and mudslides.
Health experts worry that the country’s poor sanitation system, also largely destroyed by the earthquake, will exacerbate water-borne diseases, especially the cholera outbreak that has killed more than 440 people, 105 in the past 6 days. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed earlier that the cholera strain afflicting Haiti was of South Asian origin, fuelling rumours that the source was a Nepalese army base in Haiti.
Links to other sites: Miami Herald, NewsTime, SF Gate, Washington Post
Source: Al-Jazeera
Health authorities in Haiti 24 October confirmed five new cases of cholera in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, bringing to more than 3,000 the number of infected people. More than 250 people have died of the disease since it was first recorded one week ago. The five new cases were infected in the Artibonite region north of the capital, where the outbreak was first registered.
Health authorities are racing to set up treatment centres in order to stem the epidemic, and 12 centres have been set up in Port-au-Prince. “We have registered a diminishing in numbers of deaths and of hospitalized people in the most critical areas,” Gabriel Thimote, director-general of Haiti’s Public Health Ministry, told a news conference 24 October. “The tendency is that it is stabilizing, without being able to say that we have reached a peak.”
Links to other sites: Guardian, Reuters, PanAmerican Health Organization
At least 138 people have died and more than 1,500 are seriously ill following an outbreak of what Haitian health officials say may be cholera, according to reports 22 October. The victims are all from the Artibonite region north of the capital Port-au-Prince, and died of acute diarrhea and dehydration, symptoms of cholera. Medical investigators from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating the source of the outbreak. The government is trucking in clean water to the area.
Cholera is a bacterial disease spread by contaminated water that can cause death by dehydration in as few as four hours. It is entirely treatable by intravenous or oral rehydration.
Links to other sites: CBS4, Miami Herald, RelieWeb site
Two prisoners have been shot dead and one trampled to death during a riot preceded by an escape attempt at Port-au-Prince’s main prison. One prisoner disarmed a guard 18 October and began to release other prisoners, who then briefly took seven foreigners hostage. The Haitian National Police called for reinforcements from the UN peacekeeping mission, which took up position around the prison’s perimeter.
The prison was destroyed by Haiti’s earthquake in January. Built for 400 prisoners, almost 5,000 escaped after the earthquake. Many of those imprisoned have not been sentenced or tried, according to a BBC report in March
Links to other sites: Al-Jazeera, AP, BBC
A relatively small 4.4 earthquake shook Port-au-Prince in Haiti during the night of 3-4 May, sending some panic-stricken residents into the street, but no serious damage was reported. The situation on the island has improved enough for international mail service to be resumed this week, reports Le Nouvelliste in Haiti.
Geneva UN and Red Cross groups work on sanitation, health problems
Installing a water reservoir in the women's prison at Petion-Ville. (photo: ©2010 ICRC/M. Kokic/ht-e-00577)
Work for cash, UNDP programme, Haiti 2010 (photo: ©2010 UNDP on flickr)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The arrest of 10 Americans accompanying a busload of children being illegally carried out of Haiti and into the Dominican Republic 30 January by a US religious organization has raised fears that children may be separated from members of their family who survived the 12 January earthquake in the country. Two Geneva-based groups, the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) and the Geneva office of Unicef, are active in the fight to ensure that children do not become victims of a new Haitian disaster, child trafficking, whether they are orphans or not.
The arrests come as fears are reportedly rising among Haitians of the ancient loup-garou, similar to a werewolf but a predator of children’s spirits, according to the Washington Post.
ICRC’s tracing service, usually deployed in times of conflict, is working closely with the Haitian Red Cross to re-establish family links. Working with lists provided by hospitals and first aid stations, the workers collate information to get families back together. ICRC says almost 1,500 people have been able to make “safe and well” phone calls. So far, it has a list of 25,600 names on its site www.icrc.org/familylinks.
The UN Children’s Fund (Unicef) concentrates on reuniting children with their families.
