In the capital of Haiti, Doctors Without Borders opened a 10-bed cholera treatment centre (CTC) in the Brooklyn neighbourhood, a 20-bed CTC in the Doctors Without Borders emergency centre in Turgeau, and a 50-bed CTC in the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Cité Soleil, as well as various oral rehydration solution (ORS) distribution points. The CTC in Cité Soleil is ready to receive new cholera patients, while the other units have already reached their maximum capacity.
Over the past few days, several people identified as potentially affected by the disease have presented to the Doctors Without Borders emergency centre in Turgeau and the Doctors Without Borders Cité Soleil hospital, showing symptoms like severe diarrhoea and vomit. A sample from a patient in Turgeau was found positive to cholera by the national laboratory tests. As of 3 October, Doctors Without Borders had admitted 68 patients to its facilities in Brooklyn, Cité Soleil and Turgeau. Sadly, a three-year-old child died.
This resurgence of cholera is taking place at a time when the Haitian population faces enormous difficulties in accessing health care. Insecurity and violence, coupled with severe shortages of fuel and drinking water, have forced many health facilities to reduce their activities and in some cases to stop them altogether. In addition to this, people who need treatment find it increasingly difficult to move around as public transportation is scarcely available due to a lack of fuel in the country.
