About 40 percent of the cholera cases confirmed in Haiti in the last two months are among children, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which has warned of the particular prevalence of this outbreak in areas already suffering from a general context of malnutrition.
Specifically, nine out of ten cases have been reported in the areas most affected by the food crisis, which makes those who contract the disease particularly vulnerable, especially if they are minors.
The Haitian Ministry of Health has reported 188 deaths in an outbreak that now has 924 confirmed cases and more than 10,600 suspected cases, and UNICEF is hoping to increase its deployment. To this end, it is asking for 26.6 million euros to provide humanitarian aid to 1.4 million people.
The director of UNICEF’s Office of Emergency Programs, Manuel Fontaine, has noted during a four-day visit to the Caribbean country the «triple threat» suffered by children, which includes «malnutrition, cholera and armed violence». «Sometimes all three occur together,» he warned.
Cholera causes acute watery diarrhea and vomiting that can dehydrate and kill in a few hours «without timely and adequate treatment. If this disease is added to malnutrition, a «lethal combination» emerges, in the words of Fontaine, who has visited several treatment centers supported by the agency.
He sees scope for «breaking the vicious circle between malnutrition and cholera,» but called for action as soon as possible. «Simple, affordable and effective treatment can save the lives of Haitian children, provided we reach the most vulnerable families before it is too late,» he said.
