On Quake Anniversary: Haitian Health Professionals Call For End to Cholera

Since the outbreak in 2010, over 7,000 Haitians have been killed and over half a million have been infected with cholera. A new plan, titled “Call To Action: A cholera-free Hispaniola,” would stamp out the disease by upgrading the country’s water and sanitation infrastructure. - Cholera | www.nhaha.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On Quake Anniversary: Haitian Health Professionals Call For End to Cholera
Press_Release-EarthquakeAnniversary2013-kh

January 11, 2013

Three years following the catastrophic 2010 earthquake, Haiti’s cholera outbreak continues to be one of the chief threats to its citizens, many of whom still live in camps.

In the U.S., advocacy groups such as the National Haitian American Health Alliance (NHAHA) are urging the Haitian government and its international partners to follow through on a proposed plan to eradicate cholera.

“Improved Water and Sanitation is the most pertinent public Health solution for improving Health in Haiti,” says NHAHA Chair, Yanick Eveillard, MPH. Eveillard and other NHAHA members visited Haiti months after the earthquake and were present when the Ministry of Health first announced the cholera crisis.

It is widely believed that cholera was brought to Haiti by UN peacekeepers from Nepal, who carried the same strain of the disease that has spread in Haiti after the earthquake. Many areas in Haiti overwhelmingly lack proper water and sanitation facilities but Cholera couldn’t thrive without contamination of food and water by the feces of an infected person. Worst yet, an additional 3,593 new cases were confirmed after Hurricane Sandy struck the island in October. How many more Haitians will be infected and die in 5 years?

On the third anniversary, let’s honor their memory and fight for clean water and Sanitation in Haiti!

Available For Interview:
Yanick Eveillard, MPH
NHAHA Chair
Phone: (718) 554-7522
Email: yeveillard@nhaha.org