2010-12-03
AMDA Emergency Bulletin #1: Cholera Outbreak in Haiti

 

On Dec. 1st, a team of doctors from AMDA Headquarters in Japan left for Haiti in response to the recent cholera outbreak. The team comprising one physician, one nurse, one prosthetist and one coordinator will be providing a range of medical assistance at a local hospital in Saint Marc.

According to a news source, the outbreak since mid-October has left as close to 1,500 people dead, affecting at least four provinces in the country. Haitian president stated that the cause of the epidemic is yet to be identified, however, it is most likely due to torrential rain in the past month that led the sewage to flow into Artibonite River.

The implementation of preventive measures such as awareness promotion and the improvement of sanitary condition has been a pressing issue; it had been decades since the last time cholera broke out in Haiti, hence the the knowledge pertaining to the disease needs to be passed on.

While the dispatch of extra medical personnel is under way, the prosthetist in the team will be joining AMDA's on-going prosthetic project that provides prosthetic limbs for the victims of the catastrophic earthquake earlier this year.

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