Haiti has been a poor country with over 75% of the people living on just $2.00 a day (Clean the World). Poverty in combination with natural disasters and disease outbreaks this year, the country is in dire need of help. I don’t know how severely this will impact the development of children but it will undoubtedly make an impact. Poverty itself leads to malnutrition and if you visit my blog entry on nutrition/malnutrition from two weeks ago, you can read the affect it has on child development.
Natural Disasters
A devastating earthquake shook Haiti in January 2010 causing many deaths
and deplorable living conditions within the capital city. Prior to the earthquake, Haiti had over 350 orphanages that were registered and about twice as many were unregistered (Balsari, et al., 2010). Over 350,000 children were in orphanages but only about 50,000 were actually orphanages (Balsari, et al., 2010). The others were there because their families could not afford to take care of them. This unregulated system caused family-tracing and reuniting difficulties after the earthquake and delays in the foreign adoptions process (Balsari, et al., 2010).
Hurricane Tomas ravaged the country with torrential rain and flooding in November 2010.
Disease
A cholera outbreak began in October 2010. Cholera is the most recent threat to Haitians. Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal disease caused by drinking or eating contaminated water or food. Most cases of cholera are treatable with oral rehydration salts. Visit World Health Organization for information on Cholera: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs107/en/index.html
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has established 36 Cholera Treatment Centers that are already at full capacity. Other organizations have sent essential medicines and supplies for approximately 30% of future cases. Visit the following website for the most update news on what the PAHO is doing to eliminate the Cholera epidemic in Haiti: http://new.paho.org/disasters/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1423&Itemid=1
A YouTube video for the Clean the World project that aims to help Haiti fight diseases such as cholera: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7LzNOXKi0A
References:
Balsari, S., Lemery, J., Williams, T., & Nelson, B.. (2010). Protecting the Children of
Haiti. The New England Journal of Medicine, 362(9), e25. Retrieved November 27, 2010, from ProQuest Central. (Document ID: 1976757721).
World Health Organization. Cholere Fact Sheet. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs107/en/index.html
Pan American Health Organization. PAHO Responds to Cholera Outbreak in Haiti Retrieved from http://new.paho.org/disasters/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1423&Itemid=1
I have to say the Haiti disaster was terrible and its odd because I am still learning more and more about the disaster. I have the fact that the families wen through and the disaster touch me dearly. But my question is with cholera outbreak do you think they will ever find a cure
ReplyDeleteSure. There is a vaccine as well as a treatment for Cholera. However, in Haiti the biggest problem is having quick access to the needed medication to treat it.
ReplyDelete