Cholera in Haiti Far Worse Than Predicted
By Alex Kingsbury US News
Posted: March 21, 2011
Public health officials fear that the outbreak of cholera in Haiti will be much worse than earlier predicted. The Caribbean nation, which was rocked by a devastating earthquake last year, has been grappling with an outbreak of the disease for several months. But initial estimates of 400,000 infections could double, U.S. researchers told a British medical journal. Before the earthquake, the country hadn’t had an outbreak of the disease in more than a century, leading to the widespread belief among Haitians that the pestilence was brought to the island by international aid workers. The true origins of the outbreak are still unclear. The World Health Organization says that more than 250,000 people have already contracted the disease and more than 4,600 have died as of March 10.
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COMMENT:HAITIAN-TRUTH.ORG
4,600 have died.
This is either a simple lie or an indication of ignorance.
The death toll is 20,000 or more.
There is little treatment in the countryside so entire villages simply cease to exist.
With an expected 800,000 infections – possible more since everyone has lied so far – we can lose from 10% to 60% OR more of those contracting the disease, depending upon the level of treatment. Since the level of treatment, in many areas is zero – we are going to lose a lot of people.
300,000 is not impossible.
Where are the NGOs? I suppose it is more satisfying for them to stick around Port-au-Prince and leave the people in the countryside to their own devices. Getting people off the land and into the cities so that they can make baseballs and trinkets for folks like Disney for a couple bucks a day seems to be one reason. The invisible Preval and his shadow government neglect those poor wretches and that is another reason. If there were coordination in Haiti, they would force NGOs in areas of greater need, always with the proviso that they respect local traditions ( including religion).
The tragedy is that money cannot just be thrown at the problem. People are dying, Preval is stalling, and many of the NGOs are driving around their expensive SUVs … doing nothing. Ironically, it is because of Cuban doctors that the cholera is not even worse than it is! The irony of it all is to think that doctors sent by Castro are the true unsung heroes of the cholera crisis!