(task) MSF update from the south of Haiti

GRS Haiti RS Haiti MPHISE

4 cover

humanitarian aid, medical, vulnerability

> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: John Carroll <haitianhearts@gmail.com>
> Subject: good update from the south
> Date: December 4, 2016 at 2:45:17 PM EST
> To: Kathy Gilbeaux <gilbojer@aol.com>, Michael McDonald <michael.d.mcdonald@me.com>
>
> MSF in Haiti: Many unmet needs two months after hurricane <http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/2016/12/msf-in-haiti-many-unmet-needs-two-months-after-hurricane.html>
> Via ReliefWeb, an MSF report: Haiti: Many Unmet Needs Two Months After Hurricane <http://reliefweb.int/report/haiti/haiti-many-unmet-needs-two-months-after-hurricane>. Excerpt:
>
> Two months after Hurricane Matthew devastated southwestern Haiti, thousands of people are still without adequate shelter, food and potable water, and some remote communities have not received assistance.
> Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams are witnessing a deterioration of living conditions in the heavily affected areas. In Sud and Grand’Anse departments, MSF set up mobile clinics to evaluate the general health conditions of children. In the last week, they examined and treated 163 children under age five with respiratory complications, 60 percent of whom had upper respiratory tract infections and five percent of whom had pneumonia or bronchitis.
> "These complications are mostly tied to a lack of adequate shelter, in addition to cold nights in the mountains," said Chiara Burzio, MSF medical coordinator. "Other children had diarrhea and skin infections caused by poor access to clean water.”
> Securing potable water supplies is already a chronic problem for many Haitian communities, one that only worsened in the wake of the hurricane. Pipe networks were destroyed and water reservoirs filled with sand.
> While MSF specializes in providing medical treatment, the unmet needs for water and sanitation led MSF to take emergency action to repair water supply networks and distribute water purification tablets to thousands of families in Baradères, in Nippes department, among other places.
> Many families who lost their homes in the hurricane are still living in temporary shelters, leaving them vulnerable to extreme weather conditions. Displaced people who have taken shelter in government buildings, such as schools, face pressure from local communities demanding that authorities evacuate the structures. With nowhere to go, these people need a long-term housing solution.
> The number of patients at MSF’s cholera treatment center (CTC) in Port-à-Piment has risen since early November. In the last week, the center admitted an average of seven new patients per day, some of whom came from neighboring communes. The patients arrive at oral rehydration centers that MSF opened in the mountains and are then transferred to the CTC in one of two special ambulances.
> After the hurricane, MSF opened a CTC with 19 beds in Baradères in partnership with the ministry of health. Two months later, MSF has begun shutting down its emergency operations in Nippes department as the anticipated cholera epidemic did not strike the area, possibly due to prevention measures.
> In the past two months, MSF has treated more than 190 cholera patients in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, and an MSF team is currently stationed on the island of Gonâve to respond to the increase in cholera cases and deaths in the area.
> December 04, 2016 at 09:28 AM in Cholera <http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/cholera/>, Climate and health <http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/climate-and-health/>, Diarrhea <http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/diarrhea/>, Disasters <http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/disasters/>, NGOs <http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/ngos/>, Pneumonia <http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/pneumonia/>, Water safety <http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/water-safety/>, Water security <http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/water-security/>, Waterborne diseases <http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/waterborne-diseases/> | Permalink <http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/2016/12/msf-in-haiti-many-unmet-needs-two-months-after-hurricane.html> | Comments (0) <http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/2016/12/msf-in-haiti-many-unmet-needs-two-months-after-hurricane.html#comments>
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