Haiti cholera outbreak prompts fresh UN aid plea
Baku, November 12 (AZERTAC). The UN has appealed for nearly $164m (£102m) to fight a cholera outbreak in Haiti which has now claimed 724 lives, BBC reports.
UN spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said that unless funds were provided, "all our efforts can be outrun by the epidemic".
She said the disease had so far infected at least 11,125 people in five of Haiti`s 10 districts.
Aid agencies are battling to contain cholera in the capital Port-au-Prince, amid fears it will spread through camps housing 1.1m earthquake survivors.
More than 80 people have died in the past 24 hours across the country, according to the health ministry.
Ms Byrs, of the UN`s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the funds will be used to bring in more doctors, medicines and water-purification equipment.
"We absolutely need this money as soon as possible," she said.
Stefano Zannini, head of mission for Medecins Sans Frontieres in Haiti, said on Friday that hospitals in Port-au-Prince are overflowing and patients may have to be treated in the streets.
"We are really worried about space," he said.
Meanwhile, the first portion of US financial aid for reconstruction in Haiti is on its way, more than seven months after it was promised to help the country re-build after the earthquake in January.
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