Medical, Education, Cholera Awareness / Prevention available at Norwegian Church Aid

Haiti: Cholera: A ticking bomb

Source: Norwegian Church Aid (NCA)

Date: 27 Oct 2010

Norwegian Church Aid is redoubling its efforts to fight the cholera epidemic in Haiti. "If the spread of the disease is not caught at an early stage, catastrophic consequences may follow," says Anne-Kristin Sydnes, Director of International Programmes at NCA.

More than 250 people have already died as a result of the first cholera epidemic to affect Haiti for several decades. The fact that more cases are being diagnosed in the capital Port-au-Prince can be seen as a sign that the situation is becoming more serious.

"We are working to supply 40,000 people with clean drinking water, and our staff are working round the clock together with local partner organizations to distribute water containing a stronger dose of chlorine than previously distributed, as well as water purification tablets, rehydration salts and jerry cans. NCA is also disinfecting latrines up to three times daily."

"We are now channeling extra human resources towards the information side of the response, in order to spread knowledge about the epidemic and about how to prevent infection," says Sydnes.

"Hundreds of thousands of people are still living in tented camps, in parks and on the streets following January's earthquake. Sanitary conditions are in places quite appalling, and safe drinking water is in short supply. If the epidemic is not stopped quickly, our experience suggests that an emergency can result, and thousands may lose their lives," says Sydnes.

Norwegian Church Aid's emergency response in Haiti has been directed primarily towards providing water and sanitation and improving hygiene conditions, with the specific intention of preventing the spread of water-borne disease among the population. This work is now being intensified across 20 different tented camps and areas of the poverty-stricken neighbourhoods of Bel Air and Cite Soleil.

Contact:

Anne Kristin Sydnes, tel. +47 977 14 303

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