From crisis to community cure: A Haitian mother fights back against cholera

Faced with a deadly outbreak of cholera and a lack of sanitation infrastructure, one Haitian mother sparked a community movement that has transformed her neighbourhood – and saved multiple lives.

When her 11-year-old daughter, Noel-Dina, was struck by fever and unbearable abdominal pain, Oriata didn’t hesitate. She immediately took her child to the nearest hospital. “She couldn’t walk anymore because she was so weak. I had to carry her on my back. I was terribly worried and thought I was going to lose her,” said Oriata, her eyes filled with tears.

That day, Noel-Dina was diagnosed with cholera. Like many children in their rural neighborhood of Grand-Goâve west of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, she lived without access to basic sanitation facilities. “We had no choice but to use the outdoors as our toilet. That’s how the disease entered our lives,” Oriata explained.

Cholera has recently been spreading in Haiti. So far this year, more than 3,100 suspected cholera cases have been reported nationwide. Between 21-25 September alone, 40 suspected cases and three deaths were reported in Pétion-Ville, a busy suburb with many schools – a worrying development with the new academic year set to begin.

Young adults, who typically move around a lot, account for most of the cases, fuelling concerns of the disease spreading. UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that the UN humanitarian coordination office, OCHA, was working “together with authorities and our partners to ensure there is rigorous case monitoring and that health workers are rapidly mobilised to reduce the risk of the further spread of cholera.”

Read more>>
Source: The UN