The article “Cholera Moves Into the Beleaguered Haitian Capital” by Randal C. Archibold written on November 9, 2010 in the New York Times looks at the the current issue of cholera facing Haiti. Not even a year after Haiti was struck with a devastating earthquake, the developing country is faced with yet another challenge, cholera. Cholera is an infection in the small intestine that is caused by bacterium found in contaminated drinking water or food. Treatment for cholera is simple, rehydration and in really severe cases antibiotics. Cholera is spreading rapidly throughout Haiti and recently made its way into the overcrowded capital, Port-Au-Prince. The article in the New York times can be found here http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/10/world/americas/10haiti.html?_r=1
The one million people who were displaced by the earthquake in January have been living in unsanitary camps which are the perfect breeding ground for an epidemic like cholera. As Jon Kim Andrus said “Cholera is a complex public health emergency under any circumstances. In Haiti, the hemisphere’s poorest country, the problem is even more complex.” Cholera is a serious problem that needs to be taken seriously anywhere but in such a poor country like Haiti, it needs to be a top priority. Cholera can spread rapidly to many people. Those displaced people from the earthquake are living in tightly packed tent cities with no real housing. People have limited access to clean drinking water, and often use the same source for bathing and drinking. Because of this contamination can easily occur.
Currently Haiti has 9,100 reported cases of Cholera, and at least 583 people have died because of Cholera. Hospitals and clinics are being overwhelmed with patients and the fear of spread is on every ones mind. Even though cholera is easily treated, it can come on suddenly and not leave enough time to get the proper medical aid.
It just seems like it is one thing after another for Haiti. The already struggling country can't seem to get a break. It makes sense that Haiti would have to deal with cholera because of how horrible living conditions are. As we talked about in class how things like poor population health, contamination of water supplies and food sources, lack of public health programs and environmental changes can contribute to the spread of epidemics. All of these helped contribute to the spread of cholera in Haiti. Because of the earthquake and hurricanes the Haitian people are living in slums without proper health care which the country didn't have much of pre-earthquake.
The question isn't really why Haiti has cholera, that is an easy one to answer, but the real question is what needs to be done to stop it's spread. Haiti can't really handle an epidemic right now with trying to rebuild. Cholera needs to be stopped as soon as possible because in a country like Haiti, people will die even though it can be easily treated.
I liked this article because of the way it talked about Haiti, and Haiti is very close to my heart since my visit in 2008. I think that this article spoke of the need in Haiti right now and its urgency. I also liked his honesty in how bad things are there right now, the author didn't make it seem better than it really is. I found this article to give a good overview of cholera in Haiti and how it has made its way into the capital of Port-Au-Prince.
