MSF announces an "alarming increase" in cholera in Haiti after confirming almost 100 deaths and 8,500 cases

MADRID, 20 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has warned that the cholera outbreak declared at the end of September in Haiti is expanding at an "alarming" rate, especially in the capital, Port-au-Prince, with at least 97 deaths and 8,500 deaths. patients treated at its facilities since then.

"Our current centers are becoming overcrowded and soon we will be at maximum capacity," said the director of MSF Haiti, Mumuza Muhindo. It should be remembered that the latest data from the Haitian Ministry of Health as of November 13 put the confirmed cases at 816 --out of more than 9,000 suspects-- and 175 deaths.

The NGO has confirmed that the 389 beds available in its six treatment centers are practically full. "The evolution of the outbreak is very worrying," Muhindo lamented after verifying that his centers are already receiving around 270 patients a day.

MSF is one of the few organizations that works in collaboration with the Haitian health authorities to combat the spread of cholera, "whose resurgence is a symptom of a catastrophic humanitarian and health situation," laments the NGO.

According to MSF aid workers, the resumption of fuel supplies on November 4 after weeks under the control of an armed gang "has not meant a significant change in the situation in the country" because it is still too expensive.

This means that the circulation of drinking water tankers has been reduced, and therefore access to clean water.

"The city is full of garbage that has not been collected in months," Muhindo lamented. "There is no water distribution in neighborhoods like Brooklyn, in Cité Soleil, where roads are cut by garbage and inundated by clogged canals and sewers, causing massive flooding," she warned.

MSF declares itself "ready to start implementing a vaccination campaign in support of the health authorities" and to complement other water and sanitation and health promotion activities with several hundred thousand doses of vaccines assigned to the country by the Group of International Coordination (ICG).