BOGOTA (AlertNet) - A lack of information among Haitians about how to prevent cholera coupled with some superstitious beliefs about its causes, is complicating efforts to contain a cholera epidemic in rural Haiti, aid workers say.
Haitian health authorities said on Monday six new deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours bringing the death toll to 259. News that the epidemic had slowed compared to previous days
brought some relief to the Caribbean nation suffering the first major outbreak of disease since an earthquake struck in January.
At least 3,000 people have been hospitalized with the diarrhoeal disease, many living in the central rural Artibonite province, two hours north of the capital Port-au-Prince.
"There's a lot of misinformation going around about the causes of cholera. What people need is to know about good hygiene practices and this is lacking. Cholera is very easy to prevent if people follow basic hygiene practices like washing hands with soap and cooking food properly," Oxfam spokeswoman Julie Schindall told AlertNet by telephone from Port-au-Prince.
"We are throwing every resource at this. We feel confident about the ability to contain cholera but there's concern about the virulent strain of this cholera outbreak," Schindall said.
The Haitian ministry of health and the U.N. World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed at the weekend five cases of cholera in Port-au-Prince. The five, who have been isolated, were infected with cholera in the Artibonite province and
subsequently travelled to the capital, according to WHO.
The U.N. agency says the Artibonite River is likely to be the source of the cholera outbreak, after recent heavy rains caused its banks to overflow and flooded the area.
PREVENTION MEASURES
In the confirmed cholera-infected areas, foreign aid agencies and local health officials have stepped up prevention measures to stem the outbreak and are preparing for a possible
worse-case scenario in which the epidemic would spread across the nation, including the capital where 1.3 million Haitians made homeless by the quake are living in unsanitary tent cities.
Twelve cholera treatment centres have been built, of which five are in Port-au-Prince.
"We are taking precautionary measures in tent cities in the capital and we are distributing soaps and information about basic good hygiene," Lisa Hoashi, a Mercy Corps spokeswoman, told AlertNet from Port-au-Prince.
"The main challenge in the next few weeks is to make sure people know how to prevent cholera, make sure they have access to oral rehydration salts and take them following the first signs of diarrhoea and have access to water purification tablets."
Aid workers say in a country where more than half of the nearly 10 million population practice voodoo, that some Haitians believe the outbreak was caused by malevolent spirits poisoning
the water.
Tens of thousands of litres of chlorinated water and some 10,000 boxes of water purification tablets are being distributed to affected areas, according to WHO, which says it has enough
medicines and supplies to cover initial needs.
Cholera causes severe diarrhoea, which leads to rapid dehydration. But up to 80 percent of cases can be successfully treated with oral rehydration salts, say health experts.
"Ultimately, we want to prevent cases by implementing sound water and sanitation measures, then when cases occur, prevent them from succumbing to severe dehydration," said Dr. Jon
Andrus, deputy director of the Pan American Health Organisation, the Americas arm of WHO.
While local hospitals in the cholera infected areas are full, aid workers say the chaotic scenes of last week when patients were forced to lie outside hospital entrances and in
corridors waiting hours for medical care has largely abated.
In the hospital at Saint-Marc, the coastal town at the centre of the Artibonite outbreak zone, the situation was calm.
"We didn't see people lying in the corridors. There's sufficient space to treat patients," said Oxfam's Schindall, who visited the hospital over the weekend.
Foreign aid agencies and the Haitian health ministry are focusing on public health announcements on the radio to stem the
spread of cholera. Messages and radio call-in shows on steps to prevent cholera, like boiling all food and drinking water and avoid bathing in and drinking from rivers, are being aired
frequently on Haitian radio.
"The local radio is helping a lot to spread messages about basic hygiene. Radio hosts are being trained to deal with basic questions from callers about how to prevent and treat cholera,"
Schindall said.
Local mobile phone providers have also set up a free mobile telephone number where subscribers can receive text messages about preventing cholera.
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