International group warns of increase in cholera cases

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, CMC – The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says a lack of funds and supplies has crippled cholera treatment programmes in Haiti, leading to unnecessary deaths and increasing the risk of greater outbreaks during the upcoming rainy season.
In recent evaluations of public health facilities in four Haitian departments—Artibonite, Nippes, Southeast, and North—MSF said it found that the quality of cholera treatment declined significantly in the last year due to funding shortfalls.
"Some of the staff at the cholera treatment centers have not been paid for several months,” said Dr. Mamady Traoré, MSF deputy medical coordinator, who participated in the Artibonite assessment in late December 2012.