RSOE EDIS: Haiti - Epidemic Hazard - 2010.01.30

RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service Budapest, Hungary RSOE EDIS ALERTMAIL

2010-01-30 06:18:13 - Epidemic Hazard - Haiti EDIS CODE: EH-20100130-24740-HTI Date & Time: 2010-01-30 06:18:13 [UTC] Area: Haiti, , Earthquake affected areas, !!! ALERT !!! Not confirmed information! Description: Haiti's desperate earthquake survivors faced a new threat Friday as the United Nations reported a rise in cases of diarrhea, measles and tetanus in squalid tent camps for victims. A vast foreign aid effort is struggling to meet survivors' needs 17 days after the disaster, which killed around 170,000 people and left one million homeless and short of medicine, food and water. - Several medical teams report a growing caseload of diarrhea in the last two to three days - World Health Organization spokesman Paul Garwood said. - There are also reports of measles and tetanus, including in resettlement camps, which is worrisome due to the high concentration of people - he told journalists in Geneva. UN agencies and Haiti's government aim to launch a vaccination campaign against measles, tetanus and diphtheria next week. Just 58 percent of Haitian infants were immunized before the quake, Garwood said. Critical need for surgeons. He highlighted a ''critical'' need for surgeons, with an estimated 30 to 100 amputations being carried out every day in some hospitals, while supplies of anesthetics and antibiotics were also needed. The 7.0-magnitude quake on January 12 decimated Haiti's already meager health system, creating conditions for disease to thrive in cramped refugee camps. Only one person in two among the Haitian population of more than nine million people has access to clean drinking water, and only 19 percent have decent sanitation. On Friday, Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa became just the second foreign leader to visit Haiti since the quake, lending his voice to international calls for more emergency relief and assistance with reconstruction. - This is a tragedy, a humanitarian tragedy. Haiti at this moment represents the pain of victims but also hope - Correa said. Haitians living in sprawling makeshift camps in the ruins of Port-au-Prince and elsewhere complain that the flood of international aid arriving in the country is trickling down too slowly. The name of Hazard: Diarrhea, measles and tetanus Species: Human Status: Confirmed Posted:2010-01-30 06:18:13 [UTC] Please DO NOT reply to this message: replies may be treated as errors and result in your subscription being deleted. If you have trouble or other queries, send email to havaria@rsoe.hu RSOE EDIS is operated by the National Association of Radio-Distress Signalling and Infocommunications (RSOE), Budapest, Hungary. Because of the complexity of this system and its dependence on other systems, we cannot be responsible for delays or failures in forwarding or transmission. You're receiving this AlertMail because you subscribed for the service. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. Contact: havaria@rsoe.hu