The European Union says it will be making one million Euros (€1million) available to support the emergency response to the cholera epidemic in Haiti.
The Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations Department of the EU mobilized the funds to support actions that will be implemented by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member state.
The emergency response will benefit approximately 48,000 people by facilitating access to timely and adequate life-saving treatment and protecting vulnerable people from cholera infection.
With this emergency funding from the European Union, PAHO will purchase essential inputs to improve treatment delivery and cholera detection capabilities, such as rapid tests, reagents, and equipment for the collection of samples and laboratory diagnosis and will fund telecommunications and data processing teams to support field epidemiologists, community health representatives and mobile clinic nurses. In addition, the funding will help expand and optimize cholera bed capacities while supporting medical centers in implementing cholera-specific protocols.
According to the EU, PAHO will coordinate with the Ministry of Public Health and Population to support departmental epidemiological surveillance while working to strengthen the expertise of multipurpose community health workers for them to quickly identify cases of cholera and support containment, prevention, and response activities.
Emergency funding will also be used to organize communication and awareness campaigns to raise awareness of how to prevent and control the spread of the disease and protect the most vulnerable people as a quarter of suspected cases are among children under five.
Teams are working in areas such as surveillance, case management, water and sanitation, vaccination, and community engagement.
This latest cholera outbreak is occurring amid mounting insecurity and an economic crisis.
Gangs have blocked access to the main fuel terminal in the capital city, which has caused major gas and fuel shortages that are also affecting healthcare services.
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