- Title: Cholera grips Haiti's children in hurricane aftermath
- Date: 21st October 2016
- Summary: MORON, HAITI (OCTOBER 21, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE CROSSING RIVER ON BRIDGE, TIRE IN WATER CLOSE OF MORE OF PERSON WALKING EXTERIOR OF HEALTH CLINIC PEOPLE HELPING PERSON WITH CHOLERA TO CLINIC ON STRETCHER CHILDREN WITH CHOLERA AT CLINIC SERUM BAGS TO TREAT PATIENTS WOMAN WITH BABY THAT HAS CHOLERA, GERTHA FORTULUS CLOSE OF FORTULUS (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) MOTHER OF BABY THAT HAS CHOLERA, GERTHA FORTULUS, SAYING: "I came here last Tuesday (October 18). The baby had diarrhoea and I know that this (cholera) is what he has. I don't want him to suffer from cholera. I am on standby and upon arriving here the nurses look after him." NURSES AT CLINIC ATTENDING UNICEF OFFICIAL, GERALDINE ALSERIS, ON HAND BABY VOMITING (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) MEDIC, BASSINET JEAN RENE, SAYING: "They suffer from cholera. There are cases of children who have been abandoned by a neighbour or a person in the community. They are abandoned here." UNICEF OFFICIAL WASHING HANDS MAN WASHING HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) UNICEF OFFICIAL GERALDINE ALSERIS, SAYING: "We have seen 28 children between the ages of two and 14 who are suffering from cholera. There are no words for this situation. There are not enough medical supplies. There are children who have been abandoned. They don't have food. There is not enough medicine." GIRL IN HOSPITAL WHO RECOVERED FROM CHOLERA VARIOUS OF PEOPLE IN STREET
- Embargoed: 5th November 2016 21:07
- Keywords: UNICEF Moron children Matthew
- Location: MORON, HAITI
- City: MORON, HAITI
- Country: Haiti
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Wind/Hurricane/Typhoons/Tornadoes
- Reuters ID: LVA00154Y97IB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Medical clinics in Haiti are struggling to treat children suffering from cholera following an outbreak of the disease in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.
The town of Moron, located 315 km. (200 miles) to the west of Port-au-Prince, on the tip of the nation, has been hit hard by the water-born disease. Yesterday alone, the town saw 70 cases confirmed.
The United Nations has called on donor nations to fund the U.N. response to the outbreak, a sensitive topic in Haiti because the disease was accidentally introduced to the Caribbean country by U.N. peacekeepers and has since killed more than 9,000 people. The instability caused by Hurricane Matthew has officially led to at least 300 cholera deaths, according to Haiti's central civil protection agency.
At a clinic in Moron, mother Gertha Fortulus waited as her baby received treatment for cholera.
"I came here last Tuesday (October 18). The baby had diarrhoea and I know that this (cholera) is what he has. I don't want him to suffer from cholera. I am on standby and upon arriving here the nurses look after him," she said.
Haiti's cholera epidemic began in 2010, when Nepalese peacekeepers poured infected sewage in a river shortly after a devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake.
The recent storm itself took the lives of nearly 900 people in Haiti, many in remote towns clustered near the headland, according to a Reuters tally of numbers given by local officials.
The disease has now flared in some hurricane-affected areas, mostly in the southwest of the country, as floods contaminated drinking water after the Category 4 storm.
Amongst those worst affected are children abandoned by their families after Matthew.
"They suffer from cholera. There are cases of children who have been abandoned by a neighbour or a person in the community. They are abandoned here," said medic, Bassinet Jean Rene.
The U.N. is soon launching a new plan intended to improve cholera response and water and sanitation infrastructure in Haiti, and to provide material assistance to victims.
"We have seen 28 children between the ages of two and 14 who are suffering from cholera. There are no words for this situation. There are not enough medical supplies. There are children who have been abandoned. They don't have food. There is not enough medicine," said UNICEF official, Geraldine Alseris.
The World Health Organisation said last week it was sending 1 million cholera vaccines to Haiti. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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