Brussels, 13/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - Due to post-election rioting in Haiti, the cholera epidemic is worsening and has not yet reached its peak. The European Commission is therefore preparing to mobilise an additional 10 million euro in humanitarian aid, as soon as the NGOs on the ground, which are working under extremely difficult conditions, are in a position to use it. The news was announced in Brussels on Monday 13 December by Kristalina Georgieva, the European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, who went on to take stock of the situation and Europe's response to the crisis.
Since 18 November, when the last report on the situation was published, “the situation has deteriorated. On 23 November, we were seeing 50 deaths a day. Thanks to the efforts of the international community, this figure was down to 22 per day by 4 December. But cholera has struck the camps at Port-au-Prince. We have not yet seen the peak of this disease”, said Ms Georgieva. If there are currently 3000 infected people in Haiti today, this figure could multiply fourfold, and the current riots "are jeopardising the efforts of the international community", she warned. And rightly, because in the climate of insecurity caused by the riots, there are thousands of people without access to treatment, and the number of deaths per day has gone up to 26.
“The treatment centres can no longer do their work and the medical staff cannot travel around normally, which could speed the spread of the epidemic”, the Commissioner explained.
The efforts of the Commission and the member states which offered their help through the civil protection system of the EU (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, France, Hungary, Italy and Sweden) are still trying to improve access to drinking water and to distribute basic medical care. The 12 million euro in humanitarian aid already made available have made it possible to support 30 cholera treatment centres. Drinking water has been provided to half a million people. Awareness campaigns have helped to spread information to more than 1 million people. Hygiene kits have been supplied to 1.3 million people. “We intend to make additional funds available very quickly once we can have access to the populations. 10 million euro are available for immediate deployment”, said Kristalina Georgieva. This cholera epidemic, the worst ever in Haiti, is turning into a humanitarian crisis "due to the increasingly unstable situation", even though cholera "can be treated reasonably easy". (A.N./trans.fl)