Haiti’s earthquake survivors faced a new deadly threat on Friday as the UN reported a rise in cases of diarrhea, measles and tetanus in squalid tent camps for victims.
A vast foreign aid effort is struggling to meet survivors’ needs 17 days after the disaster, which killed around 170,000 people and left 1 million homeless and short of food, water and medical attention.
With medicine running low amid efforts to treat hundreds of thousands of injured and homeless in makeshift camps, officials and aid groups are scrambling to avoid a potential public health calamity.
PHOTO: AFP
“Several medical teams report a growing caseload of diarrhea in the last two to three days,” WHO spokesman Paul Garwood said.
“There are also reports of measles and tetanus, including in resettlement camps, which is worrisome due to the high concentration of people,” he told journalists.
UN agencies and Haiti’s government aim to launch a vaccination campaign against measles, tetanus and diphtheria next week. Just 58 percent of Haitian infants were immunized before the quake, Garwood said.
He highlighted a “critical” need for surgeons, with an estimated 30 to 100 amputations being carried out every day in some hospitals, while supplies of anesthetics and antibiotics were also needed.
The quake decimated Haiti’s health system, creating conditions for disease to thrive.
Only one person in two among the Haitian population of more than nine million people has access to clean drinking water, and only 19 percent have decent sanitation.
On Friday, Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa became just the second foreign leader to visit Haiti since the quake, lending his voice to international calls for more emergency relief and assistance with reconstruction.
“This is a tragedy, a humanitarian tragedy. Haiti at this moment represents the pain of victims but also hope,” Correa said.
He also highlighted what he called the “imperialism” of aid efforts.
“There is a lot of imperialism among the donors. They donate first, but most of it goes back to them,” he said at a joint press conference with Haitian President Rene Preval.
Without naming specific programs, he criticized both military relief efforts and those of foreign non-governmental organizations.
Haitians living in makeshift camps in the ruins of Port-au-Prince and elsewhere complain that aid arriving in the country is trickling down too slowly.
Many are trying to rebuild their lives, with marketplaces springing up on streets around the capital, although business is tough.
“It’s very hard — there aren’t many buyers, but there are lots of sellers,” said 24-year-old Rose Gardy-Joseph, sitting next to a basket full of colorful sweets, soft cheese and napkins.
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