Cholera

Treating and Stopping the Spread of Cholera

A cholera epidemic began in Haiti on October 20th, 2010 and has been spreading rapidly ever since throughout the country. The numbers of reported cases and deaths are difficult to verify because many people are dying at home. Cap-Haitien has been hit hard, with the majority of cases in the poorest neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city. Cholera is transmitted through exposure to infected fecal material, usually through water or food that has been contaminated. Haiti is particularly vulnerable to this kind of disease since few people have access to clean drinking water and there are no public sanitation systems in the country.

Unfortunately because of widespread fear around cholera, civil unrest started in mid-November, which has made responding to the epidemic even more difficult for Konbit Sante staff and volunteers. The situation remains unpredictable and has gotten worse again since the results of the contested presidential election were announced on December 7th. Despite these challenges, we are doing all we can to respond to this crisis and believe we are having a significant impact.

Konbit Sante is collaborating with the Ministry of Health and other NGOs to coordinate a response on two fronts, treatment and prevention. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF/Doctors Without Borders) is taking the lead on managing the treatment centers and Konbit Sante, with Oxfam, is taking the lead mobilizing prevention efforts in the community. We are leveraging donations of supplies and funds from these and other NGO partners and purchasing the remaining items that are needed to implement the response plan.

Prevention Efforts

Water sanitation supplies are distributed at a community meeting.There are not enough resources to treat all those who could potentially become infected over the course of the epidemic (estimated at six months to a year) therefore preventing the spread of disease at the community level is essential. Our primary goal is to help slow and stop the spread of the disease by

• Educating the public about how the disease and how to prevent contracting it through hand washing, drinking only potable water, treating diarrhea early, and getting sick people to a treatment center
• Procuring and distributing oral rehydration salts to treat diarrhea
• Procuring and distributing water purification tablets along with 5 gallon buckets so that households can create potable water at home
• Investigating and facilitating clean water options to serve the most people in a neighborhood as possible, by sanitizing water on larger scale than 5 gallons at a time

These activities are implemented at dozens of early treatment and prevention stations that have been set up in communities throughout greater Cap-Haitien area and are staffed by community health workers.

Treatment Efforts

Cholera Treatment Center at Baptist Convention Hospital.Individuals who contract cholera and become symptomatic generally do so within 2-5 hours of exposure. The symptoms are severe diarrhea and vomiting, and the most severe cases can die within hours from extreme dehydration if they are not aggressively and quickly rehydrated. Konbit Sante has worked towards the goal of helping people who are infected with the disease get rehydrated quickly by

• Helping to set up and support treatment centers at the gymnasium (in town) and the Baptist Convention Hospital (on the outskirts of town)
• Coordinating logistics to ensure the treatment facilities have adequate supply of needed materials such as oral rehydration salts, IV fluids, disinfectant, etc.
• Assist sick people in getting to a treatment center quickly
• Ensure staff and volunteers are on site to provide nursing care to patients

While MSF is taking the lead on managing both treatment centers, using their logistics network to set up tents and procure treatment supplies, Konbit Sante is using its connections in the community to help recruit and screen staff for the center. Since most community members do not have their own transportation, we are paying for a public transport vehicle to serve as an ambulance in the zones where there are prevention health workers, so that sick people can get to a treatment center quickly.