Cholera spreads to Haiti`s largest prison
Baku, November 20 (AZERTAC). While the United Nations warned that protests were hampering efforts to save lives in the Haiti cholera outbreak, a leading non-profit group lashed out at organizations for what it called an "inadequate" response, CNN reports.
Medecins Sans Frontieres (in English, Doctors Without Borders) issued a blistering critique Friday that said shortfalls in resources have hampered efforts to stem the tide of disease, which has claimed at least 1,100 lives and infected another 20,000 people.
"More actors are needed to treat the sick and implement preventative actions, especially as cases increase dramatically across the country," Stefano Zannini, the charitable medical group`s head of mission in Haiti, said in a statement Friday. "There is no time left for meetings and debate -- the time for action is now."
Aid agencies have called the situation dire in Haiti, where the devastating January 12 earthquake killed more than 200,000 people and left about 1.5 million people living in congested and unsanitary makeshift camps. Compounding the problem is that Haiti`s already strained health system was virtually wiped out in the quake.
Some Haitians have that said Celestin is a symbol of what is not working in the country, and that Preval`s endorsement of him means the election -- set for November 28 -- will not be fair.
Near the presidential palace, which was heavily damaged in the earthquake, stores were closed and few cars were in the streets, though pedestrians were moving about freely.
However, Mark Ward, an official at the U.S. Agency for International Development, said U.S. authorities have "a lot of confidence" in the Haitian government`s response to the outbreak.
The U.S. government strategy for aid in Haiti is to focus on prevention, he said, citing the need for clean drinking water, the addition of chlorine to the water supply, the ready availability of oral rehydration salts, education of residents about how not to get the disease, and money to expand treatment centers.
"We`re going to invest a lot of money in their health system in the next five years," said Thomas C. Adams, special coordinator for Haiti.
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