UN Says Violence Jeopardizing Cholera Assistance in Haiti
19 November 2010
Refugees react to the effects of tear gas fired by police and UN soldiers during a protest in an area where displaced earthquake survivors live in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 18 Nov. 2010
Higher number of causalities than reported
Latest figures on the cholera epidemic from the Haitian Ministry of Public Health are more than 1,100 deaths and nearly 18,400 hospitalizations. But, UN aid agencies note these statistics are several days old and the true number of deaths and hospitalizations are probably higher.
Cholera is confirmed in seven Haitian regions. Only three remain free of the disease. World Health Organization Communications Officer, Christian Lindmeier has just returned from two weeks in Haiti.
UN agencies' response
He said aid workers are trying to inform people their lives could depend upon reaching a cholera treatment center quickly. Unfortunately, he says, civil unrest in Haiti is slowing cholera prevention and treatment supplies from reaching affected areas.
"The riots we had recently are certainly not helping either," Lindmeier said. "That are the reports from Monday and Tuesday we are getting, that people simply did not dare go to facilities or did not make it to the facilities and, of course supply deliveries to the health facilities have to be halted as well if the security situation deteriorates. So, nothing of this is very favorable, but it adds to the death toll."
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