[Haiti Vox] [Repost News] Cholera quickly rising in Port-au-Prince

A number of major news stories are carrying reports of the fast rise of cholera cases in Haiti's capital. They remain centered in the poorest slum areas and pose a major threat to the many residents who lack access to clean water. Health officials warn of the big threat to residents in camps where pit latrines and lack of adequate sanitation would help spread the disease.

Below is one of many stories on the spread of cholera and new deaths in the capital -- this one by the Associate Press's Jonathan Katz, who continues to do top reporting of the rebuilding effort.

Meantime, to keep track of the latest cholera cases and breakouts, see earlier postings to Haiti Vox that include LINKS to UN Cluster and Haitian government and online alert systems that are using a mix of mobile technology and medical field reports to map the fast-moving epidemic.

-- AC

Battle rages in slum, this time against a diseaseAssociated Press, By JONATHAN M. KATZ, Posted on Wed, Nov. 10, 2010


A wooden wheelbarrow is pushed to the high green gates of a slum hospital,
carrying an unconscious woman, her lips white and cracked with dehydration.
She is 22, and two days ago she was healthy.

The concrete passageway leading to the hospital is filled with victims of
the cholera epidemic that has entered Haiti's capital. Three weeks after it
was confirmed for the first time ever in the Caribbean nation, the
waterborne sickness has claimed at least 643 lives, mostly in the
countryside.

If Wednesday's traffic is any indication, cholera is growing fast in the
seething slum of Cite Soleil and perhaps all of Port-au-Prince, a city of
more than 2.5 million.

A taxi truck known as a "tap-tap," painted with green and yellow hearts,
backs in to the hospital to unload an elderly woman. An unemployed father
carries his limp daughter, wrapped in a yellow blanket.

Two-year-old Clercilia Regis had been sick since Sunday, when she lost
control of her bowels during church and had to be carried out by her worried
parents to their dark, one-room concrete home on a side street nearby.

Since the rumors of the sickness arrived in the capital they had taken their
pastor's advice and mixed their water with bleach and some lime juice.
Clercilia got sick anyway, but her father, Jedson Regis, says she didn't
seem too bad off at first. Then came Tuesday.

"Last night around seven, the worst started," he said Wednesday. Clercilia
was producing water at a terrifying rate. But at night in a lawless slum, he
couldn't do anything.

When the sun broke, Regis put on a gray T-shirt reading "Turkey Run State
Park, Indiana," and walked his daughter to Hospital Saint Catherine Laboure.
Along the way he passed the canals that make perfect breeding grounds for
the disease, green-brown soups of floating plastic bottles and human waste,
with chickens pecking at the surface.

The aid group Doctors Without Borders and the health ministry have set up
tents inside the hospital. The sick are lined up in beds with clear IV tubes
in their arms. Those too weak to turn their bodies get beds with holes and
buckets in the center. The woman carted in by wheelbarrow - actually a gray,
10-foot contraption known as a "bouret" - was transferred to another
facility for the most extreme cases.

Nearly 10,000 people have been hospitalized for cholera across Haiti with
symptoms including serious diarrhea, vomiting and fever. The deaths usually
come from the extreme shock brought on by dehydration.

Nobody knows how cholera came to Haiti. An outbreak of some sort was
expected in the wake of the Jan. 12 earthquake, but this came out of the
blue - there had never been a case of cholera confirmed in the island
nation. So far nobody is investigating the cause; suspicions are high that
the South Asian strain was carried by U.N. peacekeepers from Nepal, but the
case is politically sensitive and health organizations who might investigate
say they are currently focused on controlling its spread.

Port-au-Prince officially has had 1 death and 175 people hospitalized, but
those figures are based on two-day-old reports, and were out of date before
they were announced. There are reports all over Port-au-Prince of
infections, in earthquake camps, slums and neighborhoods.

At the hospital in Cite Soleil, worried families wait on benches. Pans of
bleach-laced water are placed at the doorways inside and out, to kill the
bacteria being tracked in.

"If we were in hygienic conditions, maybe we would be able to say we were in
control of the situation," said Dr. Juliet Olivier, a Haitian physician on
the Doctors Without Borders team working there. "The disease is easy to
treat, but the patients take a long time before coming to see a doctor."

Outside, the traffic is nonstop. The concrete passageway painted in hospital
green and cream is sprayed with slogans from the planned Nov. 28 election -
long live this candidate, vote for that. One excited scrawl reads, "Viv MSF
nan Site Soley" - long live Doctors Without Borders in the City of the Sun.
Market women selling fried plantains and spaghetti are doing a good
business, and so are they boys selling plastic bags of water that may or may
not have the disease.

"Dlodlodlo," they rattle. It means "waterwaterwater."

Clercilia Regis and her family got theirs from a tap when they couldn't
afford the water their church sells from a donated machine for 15 gourdes,
or about 38 cents, a gallon.

As the young girl grew sicker, she did her business on the floor, leaving
her parents to clean it up with a bucket. There are few latrines on the
street, and those are for adults.

The buckets were emptied across the alley, seven feet from the family's
door, into an empty home abandoned by former neighbors in the 2000s when the
local threats were bullets from gang wars and clashes with U.N.
peacekeepers.

As Wednesday morning becomes afternoon, Regis walks out of the hospital.
Clercilia is again in his arms.

Her stiff body is wrapped in a plastic bag. A death certificate is in her
father's right hand.

"It was night, I couldn't take her until the morning," he said. With no
money to bury her, he wasn't sure what he would do with her body. He
straightened it in his arms and walked his daughter home, still draped in
the yellow blanket.

d'Adesky] [News] SPECIAL REPORT: Haiti—Why Vote for a Woman?

SPECIAL REPORT: Haiti—Why Vote for a Woman?

Second story in a World Pulse magazine series about Haiti, Women and the Elections. Special Report Editor: Anne-christine d'Adesky


"A woman truly understands women’s problems."

October 28, 2010

3 Women Candidates Speak
BY ANNE-CHRISTINE D'ADESKY WITH JACOB KUSHNER

We interviewed the two women who represent the pink vote in Haiti's presidential election—plus one who didn't make the electoral cut—to ask, "Why should Haitian women vote for you?"

"I want to create a new political class full of women, strong, and capable of running the country well." -- Josette Bijou

Haiti: Help Women's Leadership Rise

BY ANNE-CHRISTINE D'ADESKY WITH JACOB KUSHNER

Josette Bijou:
Independent Candidate



As a physician and specialist in maternal care, Dr. Josette Bijou is running for Haiti’s top seat with a plan to improve care for Haiti’s mothers and families. She's a mother herself, with a grown son. She’s also an ex-Minister of Health with a strong background in public administration. She’s viewed favorably in Haiti as a strong woman, though some Haitian feminists are critical of her tenure as health minister, arguing that she did not respond to their longstanding demand for a national policy requiring doctors to document and report rapes, and to provide women who say they were raped with a written certificate admissible as legal evidence in a rape case. Here Dr. Bijou explains why she’s running and what she wants for women.

What is your program for women?

Every day I work with women. I’ve worked in maternal health, which is my first primary priority. For five years at the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), I was responsible for money. I did lots of work with the women organizations. As Minister of health, I decided to transform the maternity hospital, which is the only hospital for women into a center of excellence. That maternity (hospital) is in an unfavorable area. [But] I wanted underprivileged women to have the same level of treatment as the women with money.

For me, it’s not about supporting women more than the men. It’s for both. But we need to have special consideration for women […] because we have needs that men don’t. Generally in the world, women are the most impoverished. Economically, we need to permit them to advance economically, and to be able to do that, they need education. Education is what gives them the opportunity to work—to find good work. I am administrator of the National Association of Microfinance Institutions of Haiti. The majority of the beneficiaries are women. Microfinance can make their businesses more profitable.

Why should women vote for you?

First, I am a type that will advance the affairs of the state. It would be a victory for the women of this country. A woman truly understands women’s problems. I have a long history of working with women in development and health. For all these reasons, I think I am in a good place to deserve their votes.

Both (other) female candidates are militant politicians; Madame Parent in particular. The other woman [Manigat] is a professor. I am a doctor. I am close to the women, to their specific needs, to their health, and their social position. I know the Haitian territory. I visit political leaders, I visit the areas, and I know the problems. I work within development, administration, social life, agriculture, and with community organizations. I know public administration. I was Minister of Health and I’ve worked with international organizations.

Are women participating enough in politics?

It’s not sufficient. Culturally, we’ve crossed a period of great dictatorship—speaking of the ‘father’ of politics. But many women don’t participate in politics. Women normally are in charge of taking care of the children; that’s a reason there aren’t many women in politics. There aren’t many women senators—there are three in all of the central government.

If you were president, what are steps you might take to try to promote women's participation and rights? What are the most important issues to women?

I think you hear women continually claim the problem is the political life. It’s a priority of my program is to resolve the political problem of this country. To do this, we need to stimulate the women to participate as voters. I want to create a new political class full of women, strong, and capable of running the country well. There are many women’s organizations in this country.

Women have this mindset that they are not capable of doing things that men do. I have done good work, I will do more, and I will do it better than men have done it. I think my election would stimulate women and I imagine that my victory would be symbolic [for them].

What are two actions the next president of Haiti might take to speed up Haiti's recovery from the January 12 disaster?

There’s no difference between men and women there—every person should do what they can. I’m a doctor, so I go to give medicine, to organize responses, to visit the health clinics. The women are in a very grave situation—there are a lot them that are heads of the family. There are women that take care of children themselves, without a man, with adolescents that were raped. The situation of women is even more difficult than the situation of men.

What do you offer as an independent that an endorsed candidate cannot?

We have a lot of parties that have problems. This election is a political crisis—too many parties, not enough participation. I think that as an independent, I’m capable of bringing all the parties to the table to define a new political system for our country.

Do you think a lot of women will vote in this election?

I think a good part of the population pays attention. I think they will vote.

Are you confident that these elections will bring about change?

These elections are necessary, because we need a new president. Whether these elections are going to change things depends on which candidate wins.

MIRLANDE MANIGAT - RDNP




Mirlande Manigat:
Rassemblement des Démocrates Nationaux Progressistes, RDNP (Assembly of National Democrates)

In Haiti, they call her ‘Mami’ Manigat and ‘Pwofese’—Mama Manigat, or The Professor. At 71, Mirlande Manigat is well known to Haitians, having served a brief stint as First Lady when her husband Leslie took office briefly in January 1988 before a June coup toppled him. This August, Manigat's husband retired after 27 years as head of the Rassemblement des Démocrates Nationaux Progressistes, or RDNP, paving the way for his wife to become the front-runner in the 2010 Fall election. A respected Constitutionalist with a PhD in political science from the Sorbonne and expertise in international relations, Manigat served as Vice-Rector at Quisqueya University. She’s widely respected as a scholar and politician, even by critics who aren’t excited about the RDNP’s platform.

Mme. Manigat spoke to us about why she’s running, what she hopes to do, and why she plans to defy critics who believe she’s a shadow puppet for her husband’s ambitions.

On what ideals was the RDNP party founded? What type of people support you?

We were founded in 1979. It’s a Christian Democratic party affiliated with Christian democracy in America. We believe in democracy; we believe in social justice. We believe in a type of economic development which makes synergy between the state and the private sector. We believe that capitalism as an instrument could perform really well in Haiti—provided that the state itself can have a look over all the economic and financial activities. But we believe in freedom of economic activities—private investment—not only of Haitians but also foreigners, and in international relations. We believe that we have to pay attention to the geopolitical fact that we are in the Caribbean and on the American continent, which means that we have to continue relations with the two big powers on the continent, Canada and the United States, and that we have to look to other countries.

What is the RDNP platform for women? What does RDNP offer to women that other parties don’t?

Maybe for the elections, people are supporting Mme. Manigat more than they are supporting my party—as they did for my husband.

We used to think that there is no unique female condition in Haiti—we have diverse conditions, depending on precisely the background. We believe in full equality between men and women. I can’t compare my situation to the situation of a woman who is selling food on the street. Because of the general situation of the country, my daughter will not have the same future as I had. That’s the reason why we have a sector of the party which is essentially involved in politics favoring women.

I was a sub-Secretary General, and because of my university preparation and international relations, I was appointed to look after the external relations of the party. Three years ago I was elected Secretary General when my husband pulled out.

How does your party participate with women’s organizations?

Women represent 52% of the population, but we don’t have representation in the field of politics. My party has done its utmost in order to correct that, [but] I must confess that we didn’t get many results. My husband was the first president to create the ministry of the female condition.

When election time arrives and we have to nominate candidates, we don’t find many female candidates. For instance, for the legislative elections, we have only three female candidates. We organize seminars; we give political lectures. I personally published a book on the female situation in Haiti as far as females in politics and social involvement. I personally participate in seminars with many female organizations. But in spite of all that, we don’t have the results that we need.

Why?

As Secretary General, I reproach male militancy. Men find alternative reasons to explain why women aren’t involved. Maybe the women don’t have time, maybe they aren’t interested, maybe they have to look after their children, their house, etc. But the main reason is that men are reluctant to have women come to meetings. Why don’t members of the party encourage their sisters and mothers to come with them? I’ve been working with this party for the 31 years that it exists. People got accustomed to me—my presence, my activities. But I’m not sure everyone accepted my election as Secretary General.

My husband is someone else. He enjoys such national prestige that it would never occur to someone to challenge his authority. They don’t challenge mine—apparently they accept my position as Secretary General. But there is still this kind of Haitian mentality: If I do something that they don’t agree with, they would not say, but they would think, ‘She’s a woman.’

What about women’s political participation?

Women aren’t tempted to get involved in politics. They were given the right to be candidates since 1946, but could only vote beginning in 1957. I think they use that right. But getting involved in politics means being an active member in the party, and particularly, being a candidate for an elected post. There is dissuasion coming from male family members—the father, the brother, the husband. The men believe that even though they can work with other women, they are reluctant to encourage a female to get involved. There is still a perception of politics in Haiti being something dirty, physically dangerous, and especially dangerous to the morals of a woman. It’s true, politics may be dirty, but not especially so for women. The perception is that it’s even more dirty for women.

The third reason is that it’s very difficult for a woman to organize a campaign—for many reasons. In Haiti, everybody kisses everybody, there is a kind of familiarity that’s been developed. A man in Haiti, and elsewhere, during the campaign, he can kiss everybody: men, women, children, babies, and so on. It’s natural. A woman can’t do that. Her education forbids her from being too familiar with men.

What does a woman have to do as a candidate?

If she speaks only French, that won’t do. If she speaks only Kreyol, that won’t do either. People find it quite natural that a woman speaks about babies, birth control, conditions of mothers, violence against women. But people are pretty surprised listening to women who speaks about roads, about electricity, about technology, about agriculture. Those are not specific topics relating to female conditions. But she can speak about babies.

A woman who wants to be elected, she needs money. I tell young women candidates that, in spite of my age, I don’t visit people in order to get money—I send letters. If a man gives you an appointment at 5:00 in his office, it’s not normal.

What are female voters looking for in a candidate?

The feminist movement has a slogan they have used for other elections, and they are ready to use it again: Fanm vot Fanm. Women vote for women. I can’t be against that, but I told them before, I still think that it’s a kind of radical slogan. I don’t think that people should vote for women because the candidate is a woman. I think that women should have the opportunity to assess the validity of the candidate. I am not voting for that person because she is a woman, but because I agree with her platform. It seems to me that it impedes upon the freedom of the woman voter.

What are the most important issues to them?

Any candidate who is male or female, who would like to be elected, has to propose that he or she is going to do the best in order to change the female condition. There’s sexual violence—the rape of young girls and boys. There’s also prostitution. Legally we have equality between husband and wife, but equal pay for equal work—we don’t have that. The majority of the families are matriarchal in Haiti. The situation of unmarried women with many children,who may have four children by four different men, the society doesn’t protect those women. We have a civil court in Haiti that organizes civil marriage. Only 20% of the families are married according to the civil court.

Why should women vote for you? What’s one thing you would change as president?

First, I am a woman, and being a woman is an asset for me. Second, my age. People, they see me, and they call me Mami, and they presume, and they’re right, that because of my age, I have a fair knowledge of human beings, of politics—I have experience in life. They know that I have integrity, morality, and there are things that I would never do in terms of moral behavior, like corruption. Those women who are voting for me…women of my age or even younger, they are proud of me. And for them I am an example of success, because I have the knowledge, a woman who has a PhD in political science, a woman who has worked in different countries at university level, who has published a lot of books in constitutional matters and so on. So many of them tell me that I realized a dream that they could not reach themselves. But the young ones are different; they say, ‘Ms. Manigat, you are modern.’

If you were president, what are steps you might take to try to promote women's participation and rights?

I would push for some of the laws that were introduced to the Parliament that were blocked. For instance, about the search for paternity. A person can research ‘Who was my mother? but not ‘Who was my father?’ I would establish the legality of DNA research, which doesn’t exist in Haiti legally. I would promote equality for men and women.

I would [also] banish, and I have written on this many times, the free domesticity in Haiti. The system that we call restavek. Eighty-five percent of those young people are girls. It’s a global situation… It’s not slavery, I don’t go as far as saying that. But it’s something akin to a system which deprives a category of your population and the young vulnerable ones of freedom and well-being. It’s legal; it’s recognized by the labor court. You cannot legally recognize something that is so unacceptable.

Are women excited about the upcoming election? Will they participate?

I wouldn’t say they are excited. Nobody is excited in Haiti. Maybe that will change as it gets closer, but for the moment, no.

Are you confident that these elections will bring about change?

I am optimist that if I get elected, things will change. I know it’s hard because I have contenders who do have something that I don’t have myself, which is money. I don’t have as much money as they have, and that will count a lot in the forthcoming elections—not only for normal expenses, publicity, but [for them] to buy votes.

Critics say you wasted their votes when, in 2006, after winning the Senate election, you resigned. Why should they vote for you again this time?

Wherever I go in the country, whenever I have to make a speech for Haitians living abroad, this question will arise. For me it’s an honor. It means that people didn’t forget; that people still remember that [victory]. First of all, it’s not my husband who forced me. That's the perception: that a woman can’t freely make such a decision, that it has to be her husband who forced her. My husband was against that. My husband told me, ‘They will not forgive you,’ and they did not forgive me.

On two occasions the electoral council blocked me in previous elections. When they gave the first report, I had 342,000 votes. When they gave the final report, I had 280-something thousand, meaning I had lost 60,000 votes. Someone who was holding a high position in the CEP warned me, telling me, ‘Ms. Manigat, you are elected on the first ballot, but they are going to block you in the second. It was a political decision.’ People say they waited for two hours, three hours to vote for me. They say ‘Ms. Manigat, We are going to vote for you, but don’t do that again.’


CLAIRE-LYDIE PARENT




Claire-Lydie Parent: The Mayor
Kombit Party

Claire-Lydie Parent is the five-time mayor of Petionville, a charming, hilly suburb that sits above the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. She recently put in a bid to be president, but was rejected by Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council—one of 15 candidates excluded, including Haitian-American musician Wyclef Jean. Parent protested that decision, but is no longer officially in the running. Married, and with two children, she heads the Konbit party, which was founded four years ago. For now, her main pulpit remains City Hall, where she plays a prominent role in daily civic and political affairs. Here, Parent explains why she seeks higher office and what her party offers to women.

What is the Konbit platform for women?

On a political level, women are in a very important place in the economy of the country, but they are forgotten by the major parties. At Konbit, we motivate women to become candidates and participate in all elections, not just for president, but for mayors and deputies too.

Our program for women is that the majority of Haitians are in the agriculture culture. There are many women in the country that are involved in commerce, on the streets, but to really aid the government, they need to cultivate the earth too. Right now, the women that work the earth don’t have money to cultivate. We want to modernize agriculture. We want to have new material and equipment. We want to assist women by creating an agricultural bank, where they can buy credit to produce agriculture.

Tourism should also be developed, and the women should work within that—in the hotels, in the restaurants. We would like them to be managers, to learn to be chefs, and receptionists, and secretaries. We need technical schools.

Another thing is their health. We want to teach women how to protect themselves from diseases, how to clean the water, to raise the children far from those diseases we can catch from water, from sex, from all of that. We want women to be informed. This would also apply to women in prison. We want to assist them judicially, give them lawyers.

What are female voters looking for?

I think they want a change, but they don’t want just a change in gender; they want a woman who can prove herself. Someone who can make change. That’s why most of them want me to be president. That’s why they elected me five times already as mayor of Petionvlle.

What does KONBIT offer to women that other parties don’t?

What we offer that other parties don’t is that my presence as mayor proves that women can occupy an important place within the country. For example, we are the only municipality (Petionville) that has a program for women in prison. We have a program of financial assistance for street vendors. We have two trade/professional schools for women. In school we prioritize that girls can go to university. [At Konbit] we have many other programs that interest women.

What are the most important issues to women?
Education. Academic development. That the involvement of women in the development of the country is important. It’s about empowerment. [And] women should understand the Haitian laws.

Are women excited about the upcoming election? Will they participate?

They are not happy for many reasons: because most of them are victims from the earthquake, they are still on the streets, the economy is slowed down.... They are in trouble. They are not happy with the way they see the government and the CEP running the election. They are not happy because they see every time we have elections in Haiti, we have to beg for money to campaign. Too much money is spent on elections—they don’t like that. They are not happy because they feel the way that these elections are coming—they smell fraud, corruption..

Why do you think you were rejected by the CEP?

They don’t have a real reason, because a real reason should be based on something legal. In each term, you’re supposed to have discharge (a legal certificate confirming an annual audit of spending by government officials), but it is done at the end of each term. My term is four years. It’s not the first time I entered a race when I was still in power. Every year I spend money; they count and control it. To get the certificate, you’re supposed to go to the court to verify this. I gave that paper, which was the same one that [other candidates] gave.

What are you telling your supporters about who they should vote for?
I would never tell them not to vote. But we should be there to denounce what they are doing wrong with these elections. They should stay there to fight with them [the CEP]. Life in Haiti is a fight—we must fight for everything.

(30)

Editors's Note: For last week's related story on Haiti, Women, and the Elections in this Special Report, go to World Pulse magazine.

Coming soon: more election stories, a post-quake spotlight on girls lives in Haiti's camps, and rural women's recovery.

A feature story on the recovery of Haiti's women's movement is featured in the print edition of World Pulse, along with an essay by Edwidge Danticat, and will be posted as part of this Special Report.

---
Contributors:

Special Report editor Anne-christine d’Adesky is a longtime journalist and author with roots in Haiti. She is a regular contributor to World Pulse Magazine. View her work at www.haitivox.com and www.potofanm.org.

Jacob Kushner works in Haiti and the Dominican Republic and previously reported for the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism and La Communidad News in Madison, Wisconsin. View his work at www.twonationsnews.com.

Noula Mobile reporting of cholera cases - Haiti: Dial 177 (for Voila) or 3753 8500 if you use Digicel

A number of alerts and resource sheets were provided this morning from the UN clusters (Child Protection, Logistics, Shelter, other) that reveal an increased coordination in the response to Cholera.


SMS Tracking of Cholera and Alert System: Noula and DSO coordination.

Noula, the Haitian crisis mapping team that took over from Ushahidi, has teamed with the Haitian government and agencies to coordinate mapping cholera reports using SMS text alerts linked to their computer platform for GPS visual mapping and tracking of cholera.

DSO has also set up a page for the various agencies in the UN cluster system and other first responder NGOs to share their reports. The new central DSO site lists many recent reports and updates. Go to:

http://sites.google.com/site/choleradso/home

To contact them, email:

cholera.dso@gmail.com

There's also information about the implementation of the free-to-text Noula SMS platform for cholera monitoring (in French).

The two mobile telephone numbers to dial or text or report Cholera cases to the Noula platform are:

177 - for Voila customers;
or
3753 8500 for Digicel customers.


Here's a bit of info:

Accueil

Cette cellule opérationnelle est l’appui à la réponse des Bureaux Communaux et UCS de la zone, elle suit l’ensemble de la stratégie nationale et veille à l’application des normes nationales. La Direction Départementale de l’Ouest assure cette coordination, et permet ainsi le lien avec les instances nationales.

NOULA, Portail de gestion de crise Fait en Haiti

Ce projet a été créé pour soutenir la direction de la crise après le 12 janvier. Son premier objectif n’était donc pas l’épidémie. Cependant, ce site peut être extrêmement utile pour la crise du choléra. Pratiquement, il offre un moyen de cartographier les alertes et d’enregistrer les messages qui viennent de la population ou des groupes spécialisés.

Les messages arrivent par le réseau de téléphonie mobile ( appel ou texto). Ces appels ou textos sont immédiatement géo-référencés et sauvés sur la base de donnée de l’opérateur. L’information est disponible en temps réel pour tous les acteurs concernés.

Si vous utilisez Voila, formez le 177 gratuitement. Pour Digicel, forme le 3753 8500.
http://www.noula.ht/wbfrm_Alertes.aspx?IDDOMAINE=15&debPer=09/01/2010&finPer=10/26/2010

More soon - ac

[Haiti Vox] [News Source] Partners In Health Cholera in the Media page with slide shows

One site for major media headlines on Cholera in Haiti and snapshots of the medical teams in action is Partners In Health's new page on this: Cholera in Haiti in the Media .

It lists a scroll down of headlines from major news stories on the cholera epidemic in Haiti. (Most feature the work of their agency in Haiti, but the page offers a quick review for those looking for a running tally of the media coverage.)

You can also see a slide show from Artibonite hospitals, which gives a quick snapshot of the conditions including flooding in St. Marc, that have contributed to the cholera epidemic.

News headlines: http://www.pih.org/news/entry/cholera-in-haiti-in-the-media/

Slide show from St. Marc: http://www.pih.org/blog/entry/cholera-outbreak-on-the-ground-in-st-marc/


-- AC

(Haiti Vox) (FactSheets): Info for Haitians and Visitors on Avoiding Cholera

Info Haitians and Visitors on Avoiding Cholera:

Below are some resources and links to Kreyol fact sheets and tips related to avoiding cholera from the Hesperian Foundation. They have a post-quake page that lists resources and links to their most popular field guides and handbooks for no and low-resource settings. They include practical tips about maintaining good living environments, and information on how to naturally purify water using the sun, etc.

The link for the Avoiding Cholera fact sheet is: http://creole.hesperian.net/Cholera+Factsheet

Their Kreyol page is http://creole.hesperian.net.

They also have the very helpful field guides of When There Is No Doctor (Kote ki pa gen dokte) and For Women When There Is No Doctor (Kote Fanm Pa Jwenn Dokte) and prepared by Haitian doctors in the field who have field-tested these handbooks.

You'll find a Health Glossary for all at:http://www.hesperian.info/assets/Glossary_English.pdf

-------------------
For Visitors to Haiti --

PRACTICAL ADVICE FOR VISITORS TO HAITI:

J. Hudicourt shared this note with the Corbett list and I thought it was good common-sense advice with some insider info for visitors to Haiti, including medical providers - related to avoiding Cholera. - Thanks J Hudicourt! (jhudicourtb@aol.com

For those of you who are in Haiti or are about to come to Haiti. Even if the epidemic is not in the area where you are, you should act as if it is near you.

Cholera is a feces to mouth transmission; you don't get it from being next to a sick person. As one living in the house of a doctor in Haiti, the modus operandi in these times is:

If you eat outside your home:Drink only bottled drinks with no ice. Bagged ice for stores is clean. Block ice is not.

Do not drink water sold in bags in Haiti, there is no guarantee that it is purified.

Eat all your food well done. Bacteria are killed in the cooking process.

Do not eat salad or any raw fruit that you have not peeled yourself.

You may eat a banana, an orange, a tangerine, a grapefruit, an avocado
(fruit with thick skin) that you have washed and peeled yourself.
Do not drink locally made, freshed squeezed juice.

Carry Purrell in your pocket and disinfect your hands often. Always
disinfect your hands before eating and after going to a bathroom.

Avoid hand shakes.

No matter how aware a hotel or a restaurant is of measures to make
their raw foods and ice clean, they cannot control the action of all
of their employees.

Finally be prepared by carrying with you medication against intestinal
infection. If your doctor in the US gave you Cypro start taking it at
the first signs of trouble.

Above all, if you are sick, you must continue drinking to rehydrate. 7-up and sprite are preferred but Coke will do. Gatorade and Ginger Ale are very good but not asreadily available in Haiti.

White rice is the best food for the sick
person.

Boiled carrots are also good. Toast and saltines are good.

No fats. Seedless jellies are good.

In your home, if you want to eat salad, prepare your water to wash your salad.
For each gallon of water use 3 to 5 drops of Clorox. Let the water sit at least 20 minutes to let the clorox kill the bacteria. Wash your vegggies twice. The second time let them sit in the clorox water to make sure the bacteria are being killed.

It is also recommended that you do a second rinse of your eating utensils in Clorox treated water.

Additional Note

There is a method of purifying clean water that could be of great help in Haiti where all the elements are available. It is that small clear plastic bottles of water be left on a tin surface in the sun for six of more hours.

For this method see http://www.sodis.ch. Apparently the people of the Artibonite Vallley use river water in which they dip a branch of Cactus. The Cactus makes the water clear by attracting solids. If they would then fill plastic bottles and put them on their tin roof for the day, the water would be safe in the evening or the next day. That is actually a good use for all those discarded plastic bottles. The bottles must be small for the process to be effective, 10 cm wide or less.

Editors's note: Haiti Vox cannot vouch for the information above related to use of Cactus but Hesperian materials outline clearly the steps to naturally purify water. Suggestion: follow Hesperian guidelines and steps from their When There Is No Doctor book, or other materials that have this basic information. The success of this approach has been documented. - ACD

(Haiti Vox) (News -Repost) Dominican Republic Restricts Entry from Cholera-Stricken Haiti

See story below that details border closing Haiti - Dom. Republic.

Take home news:
Only students and Haitians with Dominican Visas can pass, after following hygiene measures imposed at border.

The closing of the binatinal Dajabon market and the ban of cooked food from Haiti in the market has angered and hurt Haitian merchants. -ac


Latin American Herald Tribune
Oct. 25, 2010
Dominican Republic Restricts Entry from Cholera-Stricken Haiti

DAJABON, Dominican Republic – Dominican authorities barred Monday the entry of thousands of Haitian merchants and buyers on their way to take part in the traditional binational market that was suspended because of the cholera epidemic affecting Haiti.

The provincial director of the Public Health Ministry, Rafael Salas, told the press that this is an official government measure adopted to protect the population from the outbreak of cholera detected last week in Haiti that has already taken 253 lives.

Migration authorities said that it will only allow entry into the country for students and Haitians with Dominican visas, who have previously observed such hygienic measures as washing their hands, at points established by the Public Health Ministry on the border.

The suspension of the traditional binational market in Dajabon sparked complaints from Haitian merchants, many of whom came to the border from Port-au-Prince and remote areas.

The Dominican Republic also blocked Sunday the entrance to its territory to Haitian clergy who were going to take part in a meeting for peace in both countries, religious sources said.

Dominican authorities had announced a series of measures on the Haitian border due to the outbreak of cholera.

Among the measures was a ban on sales of food cooked in Haiti at the binational market.

While no suspected cases of cholera have been reported up to now in the Dominican Republic, Health Minister Bautista Rojas Gomez said that a unit has been set up in the national laboratory to diagnose the deadly disease, the press said Monday. EFE

(d'Adesky) (News Update) Sit Rep. No. 4 - Cholera Update

Below is today's update with official Haiti govt statistics about the epidemic: Highlights:

* 3342 hospitalized, 259 dead

*all hospitals in Central Artibonite and Central Plateau full

* five cases confirmed in Port-au-Prince -- the latter originally infected in Artibonite.

* Border to Domincan Republic closed, except for partial opening at Jimani/Malpasse with inspection.

Details of diff deliveries of medicine, supplies by UN Cluster members and frontline NGO agencies follows.-- ac


UN Logistics Cluster
Cholera Outbreak in Haiti
Monday, 25 October 2010, 17:00h (Haiti time)

Situation Update No 04

Background

On 22 October, Government Officials confirmed a Cholera outbreak in the Département Artibonite. The Ministry of Health reported initially that the worst-affected Communes were Grand Saline, Desdunes,l’Estere, Dessalines, Petite Riviere, la Chappelle, Marchand, St Michel and St Marc, approx. 100km (60
miles) north of Port-au-Prince. Shortly afterwards, cases of Cholera were also confirmed in Central Plateau.

According to the Ministry of Health and WHO, 3,342 people have been hospitalised to date and at least 259
people died.

Local hospitals in Central Artibonite and Central Plateau regions are full, and patients are beingrelocated to hospitals in other areas. In the evening of 23 October, the Ministry of Health and WHO confirmed five cases of Cholera in Port-au-Prince, but the patients have been quickly diagnosed and isolated. The five diseased were infected in Artibonite and subsequently travelled to the capital. Another 20
cases in the capital are under investigation.

Artibonite River is likely to be the source of the outbreak, after recent heavy rains caused its banks to overflow and flooded the area.
On 23 October, the Government of Haiti requested the Humanitarian Community to respond to theoutbreak.

The response is being coordinated by the Ministry of Health, the Direction Nationale de l'EauPotable et Assainissement (DINEPA), the Health Cluster and the Wash Cluster. Provision of clean water and sanitation has been identified as priority areas of intervention.

Information campaigns about preventive measures against Cholera have been initiated by the Governmentof Haiti, the Health and the Wash Cluster, and all mobile phone providers in country. Almost all Haitian-Dominican border crossing points have been closed by Dominican Authorities on 25 October. Only Jimani/Malpasse is partially open and people can cross after thorough inspection.

Logistics Cluster Activities
• The Logistics Cluster is part of the Crisis Coordination Cell at the Ministry of Health, and the Inter-
Agency Information Management & Public Information Cell at OCHA in Port-au-Prince.
• A Logistics Cluster Officer, specialised in infrastructure, deployed to St Marc together with a UNICEF
Logistics Officer, in order to support WHO in conducting assessments of Health facilities.
• Through the Logistics Cluster, MINUSTAH-JOTC is preparing the ground for two Cholera Treatment
Centres in St Marc and in l‘Estere. Altogether 12 Cholera Treatment Centres will be established countrywide.
• Transport and storage services have been provided so far as follows:

25 October:
o WHO was supplied with one Mobile Storage Unit from Logistics Cluster stocks in Port-au-Prince, for
the storage of medical equipment in St Marc.
o Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)-Spain: was supplied with 10 additional tents, 100 foldable beds, 10
plastic sheeting rolls and 2 generators from Logistics Cluster stocks in Port-au-Prince, which have
been transported to St Marc.
o Upon request from DINEPA, UNHAS airlifted 800 kg of chlorine to 11 locations along the Artibonite
River. In addition, 11 kits to test potability of water were flown on behalf of UNICEF to the same 11
locations.

24 October:
o Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)-Spain: was supplied with a Mobile Storage Unit from Logistics
Cluster stocks, which is currently being established as Cholera Treatment Centre in St Marc.

23 October:
o French Red Cross: 6,000 hygiene kits and 6 tents were transported from Port-au-Prince to St Marc;
o International Relief and Development (IRD): 40 boxes of rehydration salt were transported from
Port-au-Prince to St Marc;
o Médecins du Monde (MdM)-France: 5,000 pocket Ringer’s lactate were transported from Jeremie
to Port-au-Prince;
o The UNHAS helicopter flew an assessment team of seven IOM staff members to Gonaives.

End.

Sources:
Briefings by the Humanitarian Coordinator and the Minister of Health in PaP,
Crisis Coordination Cell in PaP,
and Inter-Agency IM & PI cell in PaP.