The response to the cholera epidemic in Haiti has been too slow, a top U.N. official said on Sunday.
According to the head of the U.N. humanitarian mission in Haiti, Nigel Fisher, only 10 percent of a $164 million appeal has been supplied.
“Critical supplies and skills are urgently needed. We need doctors, nurses, water purification systems, chlorine tablets, soap, oral rehydration salts, tents for cholera treatment, centers and a range of other supplies,” Fisher said in a press release.
According to the U.N., the spread of the disease has been accelerated by floods from Hurricane Tomas that hit Haiti on Nov. 5. Riots aimed at U.N. peacekeepers have also impeded cholera treatment in the northern city of Cap Haitien.
Nearly 20,000 people in Haiti have been infected, and at least 1,100 people have died from cholera, which “is an extremely simple disease to cure,” Fisher said. He added that “without medical help, the mortality rate will increase dramatically.”
According to the head of the U.N. humanitarian mission in Haiti, Nigel Fisher, only 10 percent of a $164 million appeal has been supplied.
“Critical supplies and skills are urgently needed. We need doctors, nurses, water purification systems, chlorine tablets, soap, oral rehydration salts, tents for cholera treatment, centers and a range of other supplies,” Fisher said in a press release.
According to the U.N., the spread of the disease has been accelerated by floods from Hurricane Tomas that hit Haiti on Nov. 5. Riots aimed at U.N. peacekeepers have also impeded cholera treatment in the northern city of Cap Haitien.
Nearly 20,000 people in Haiti have been infected, and at least 1,100 people have died from cholera, which “is an extremely simple disease to cure,” Fisher said. He added that “without medical help, the mortality rate will increase dramatically.”
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