cholera is spread on scarce medical resources Haitians
protests fed chaos.
November 16, 2010 - Cholera is now present in all the departments (provinces) of Haiti, and spread so quickly that several medical sources and other herald "hundreds of thousands" of people infected. Doctors at Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, MSF) report that they can not cope with the influx of patients coming to clinics across the country. Doctors and nurses working in different parts of the country report they are running out of medical supplies.
In this chaotic situation and the lack of mobilization required to respond, violent protests have erupted in the northwestern city of Haiti, Cap Haitien, where local protesters attacked the peacekeepers of the UN with bottles, rocks and burning tires, blaming the Nepalese peacekeepers by the outbreak of cholera. In Hinche, central Haiti, protesters set fire to a police station. Vincenzo Pugliese, a spokesman for the stabilization mission of the UN, MINUSTAH, warned that "we are facing the consequences of a cholera epidemic, and two weeks before the election, so people are scared."
In neighboring Dominican Republic, although The government insists that the country is free of cholera, there have been two confirmed cases of cholera reported in San Jose Ocoa and Laguna Salada in the country's northwest. On November 12, Dr. Senen Cava, leader of the Dominican Medical Association, warned that the onset of the disease in the country is "imminent."
Until today, have killed nearly 1,000 people for cholera in Haiti, and 14.642 people are infected, but it is common knowledge that the figure is much higher. In remote rural areas it is impossible to know how many people are sick.
On 11 November, Dr. Stefano Zannini, leader of the MSF mission in Haiti, gave a firsthand report on the situation on the ground. Today, five days later, is much worse. He reported that:
"In the neighborhood of Cité Soleil, located north of the city [Port-au-Prince], we recorded 216 cases of cholera yesterday different coming to the hospital, while the total number reported just five days ago had been 30. The patients come from everywhere, from all parts of the city, rich or slum areas ... "
"But we are really concerned about space. If you continue increasing the number of cases at the same rate, then we will have to take drastic measures to treat people. We'll have to use public spaces and into the streets. I can easily see that this situation will deteriorate to the point where we see patients lying in the streets, waiting for treatment. At this time, simply do not have many options. "
" We are looking for alternative spaces, but you have to keep in mind as the situation in Port-au-Prince ... Only to find an empty area in this city is a major logistical challenge, so for us to find space to treat people will become complicated. "
" Right now we have over 100 international staff members and more than 400 Haitian staff working in treatment centers cholera throughout the country, but simply not enough. Is getting more medical staff, but there is a chronic shortage of staff here in Haiti and we are about to be exceeded. Our teams work 24 hours a day, and fatigue is becoming a problem. Our teams are working very hard and are hard-pressed by the workload. It is not easy to work at a cholera treatment with the smell, noise and pressure of many patients. But we will continue to provide treatment. "
" In my capacity as head of mission of MSF, I am extremely proud of the passion and commitment that my team is showing now in Port-au-Prince and Haiti. But we are at a crucial time. There is no living memory of cholera in Haiti and therefore little is known of the disease. This means that there are many misconceptions and rumors have circulated that caused panic in the population . Some people do not come to treatment centers or cholera have been afraid that in their neighborhoods because they think they contribute to the spread of the disease. We have been trying to explain that the opposite is true: the closer is the population center, the better ".
" But another problem is that cuando la gente termina su tratamiento y dejan los centros, vuelven a lo que es un zona potencialmente contagiada con cólera. Aquí, en Port-au-Prince, todavía viven en campamentos 1.4 millones de personas y dentro de los campamentos, son escasos la higiene, sanidad y agua potable. Estos 1,4 millones de personas dependen totalmente de los grupos de ayuda humanitarios para obtener agua potable. La infraestructura es débil y es muy difícil obtener ayuda médica y agua para todas estas personas".
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