Direct Relief Responding to a Spike of Cholera Cases in Haiti

October 18, 2011 

On the one-year anniversary of the cholera outbreak in Haiti, U.N. deputy special envoy Dr. Paul Farmer has declared the country's cholera outbreak is now the worst in the world and is on the verge of becoming the leading cause of death by infectious disease in Haiti.

While cholera cholera cases have been gradually declining over the past few months, heavy rains in southwest of Haiti over the past weeks have lead to a spike in the number of cholera cases in the region. The Grand’Anse and Sud departments located on the extreme western tip of Haiti have had a large number of patients arriving into health facilities to be treated for cholera over the past week. A 37-bed government-run clinic in Randel has been overburdened by patients and is lacking the medical supplies needed to treat them.

In response to a plea for help from the Haiti epidemic advisory system, a forum of over 850 government officials and international organizations who are collectively tracking and responding to the epidemic, Direct Relief has mobilized its in-country team to pick, pack, and transport the essential medical supplies to the affected areas in order to treat 100 patients. These items will include powdered Drip-Drop oral rehydration solutions, lactated ringers, IV needles and tubing, soap, bleach, and antibiotics.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, since cholera arrived in Haiti one year ago it has sickened over 440,000 people (nearly five percent of the population) and killed more than 6,300 people. Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that cholera will continue to spike seasonally during the rainy season especially as 600,000 people still remain in tent camps and only 17 percent of the population has access to a latrine following the January 2010 earthquake.

In the past year, Direct Relief International has provided enough antibiotics, oral rehydration solutions, and IV fluids to treat over 100,000 people for cholera, which equates to over 20 percent of those who have been affected throughout the country.

Additionally, Direct Relief has sent six cholera preparation packs to store in its in-country warehouse that will be dispatched as soon as an outbreak occurs in any part of the country. This will help to curb any future spikes in cholera during upcoming rainy seasons.

The wholesale value of these cholera-specific items totals over $5 million.

Aid to Treat 100,000-Plus Cholera Patients Delivered in Haiti

September 13, 2011

Since the cholera outbreak began in October 2010 in Haiti, Direct Relief international has provided material aid to treat more than 100,000 people for the disease and to prevent its spread. These items, valued at more than $5 million (wholesale) include:

• 84,146 liters of IV solutions and the accompanying needles and tubing (enough to treat nearly 17,000 patients with severe cholera)
• 36,000 liters of premixed oral rehydration solution (enough to rehydrate over 8,000 people with severe dehydration)
• 300,000 tablets of doxycycline and erythromycin (antibiotics to help over 60,000 people recover from an extreme case of cholera)
• 25,862 liters of Pedialyte oral rehydration product (enough to treat 5,000 children for severe dehydration)
• 89,412 bars of soap, 8,400 gallons of bleach, and 55,848 bottles of hand sanitizer to  prevent the spread of cholera

Direct Relief is also preparing 6 cholera prep kits containing enough IV fluids, needles, tubing, antibiotics, oral rehydration solution, bleach, gloves, and soap to treat 625 patients per kit--or a total of 3,750 people. Direct Relief is also delivering an additional 375,000 sachets of oral rehydration salts (ORS) that, when mixed with water, will provide a full course of rehydration therapy to an additional 75,000 people.

These cholera preparation modules and the ORS will be stored at Direct Relief’s warehouse in Port-au-Prince and can be dispatched at a moment’s notice to any health facility experiencing a surge in cholera patients. Urgent treatment is critical with cholera, which can turn deadly fast if a patient becomes severely dehydrated.

Hospital Albert Schweitzer, the first hospital to treat cholera patients last October and the largest recipient of cholera-treatment supplies from Direct Relief, reports that it has seen 26,365 patients since last October (roughly 15 percent of the total people hospitalized for cholera in Haiti) and are seeing about 21 cholera patients per day (76 percent of whom stay two or more days in hospital).

As of the end of July, the total number of reported cholera cases on Haiti was 419,511, with more than half of these patients requiring hospitalization. Overall, data from health facilities indicate that 5,968 people have died (about 1.4 percent of all cases). The elderly and children are most vulnerable to the acute diarrheal disease.

According to the World Health Organization, up to 80 percent of cholera cases can be successfully treated with oral rehydration salts, and effective control measures rely on prevention, preparedness, and response.

Direct Relief’s warehouse in Haiti has enabled fast delivery of critically needed supplies to help prevent and treat cholera

Cholera-Fighting Aid Delivering to Hospital in North

July 25, 2011 

As the cholera outbreak flares up in Haiti, Direct Relief International is delivering critically needed medical supplies and medicines to treat this deadly infection. The consignment, which contains oral rehydration solution, antibiotics, intravenous solutions, scrubs, and bleach, will help treat patients and control the spread of infection. Delivering to Hospital Centre Medical Beraca, a large public facility in Port-de-Paix in the north, the antibiotics and IV fluids in this shipment will treat 130 cases of severe cholera.

The Haiti Epidemic Advisory System has reported 100 new cases of cholera at the hospital.

Since the rainy season has started, cholera is again gaining a foothold among Haitians living in compromised conditions since the earthquake in January 2010. According to news reports, more than 5,800 people have died from the diarrheal disease since the outbreak began last October, and the number of cases is surging in the north. When a patient becomes severely dehydrated, cholera quickly turns fatal.

Direct Relief has supported the cholera response across Haiti, delivering materials to control the spread of the disease and treat patients since the outbreak first occurred. Its support for earthquake-affected people in Haiti has topped $58 million.

Direct Relief Expedites Delivery of Essential Medical Supplies to Treat Cholera in Haiti

June 30, 2011 

Today Direct Relief International provided Hospital Albert Schweitzer, one of Direct Relief’s longest running partners in Haiti, with medications and medical supplies essential to helping them stem the new tide of cholera that has taken hold of the region since the rainy season began in May.

This shipment was valued at over $15,000 (wholesale) and contained a variety of products that are invaluable for treating more than 31,000 cholera patients. These products were supplied from Direct Relief’s warehouse in Port-au-Prince and included 3,800 tabs of erythromycin (a broad-spectrum antibiotic), 2,000 liters of Drip-Drop oral rehydration solution, 1,800 bottles of antibacterial liquid hand soap, and 564 liters of lactated Ringer’s solution (an intravenous solution).

According to Paul Hendershot, Director of Logistics for Hospital Albert Schweitzer, the hospital is treating an average of 160 to 180 cholera patients each day and takes in nearly 50 new cholera patients every day. Since June 1, it has admitted 1,141 patients; because the patients are admitted faster than they are discharged, the hospitals’ patient numbers are steadily increasing.

Hospital Albert Schweitzer is one of over 100 medical facilities that Direct Relief International supports in Haiti. This facility has received $3.6 million (wholesale) in essential medicines, supplies, and equipment since January 2010. These supplies have been provided from Direct Relief warehouses both in Port au Prince and California and will continue to be supplied as needed.

Additionally, Direct Relief is currently assembling 50 cholera kits that will treat 625 patients each and can be provided to partner medical facilities in all 10 departments of Haiti if there is a cholera outbreak in these regions.

Since January 2010, Direct Relief has provided over $60 million (wholesale) worth of medications and medical supplies and has provided over $1.5 million in cash grants to local organizations in Haiti working toward recovery from the earthquake.

Direct Relief Reaches out to Healthcare Partners After Severe Rain Storms Sweep Through Haiti

June 9, 2011

Severe rain storms throughout Haiti and the Caribbean during the first weeks of June kicked off what is anticipated to be an extremely active hurricane season. The heavy rains caused flash flooding and mudslides killing 23 people and served as a reminder how fragile Haiti’s healthcare system remains 18 months after the powerful earthquake devastated its capital.  

This is the first major rainfall of the Atlantic hurricane season and there is concern about the country’s ability to respond as the people of Haiti continue their fight against an eight-month-old cholera outbreak that has taxed an already over burdened healthcare system and taken the lives of 5,400 people. Since 2007, Direct Relief has worked to strengthen Haiti’s major hospital referral centers each hurricane season by providing prepositioned modules of medications and supplies in three strategic locations across the country that can be used to treat 5,000 people for one month. This program gives healthcare providers the ability to immediately respond to people’s medical needs created by storms and flooding by having the right medications and supplies on hand and ready to use, thereby eliminating the lag time associated with transporting aid into the country after a storm has struck.

Since rainy season began in the beginning of May, the numbers of cholera cases in Haiti have been steadily increasing. The number of weekly hospitalizations nationwide has increased from an average of 1,700 to 2,600 people. In Port-au-Prince  alone, there have  been nearly 2,000 cases and 13 deaths reported in the last six weeks. This is in part due to the fact that a large number of the cholera treatment centers that were temporarily set up to treat these patients in isolation shut down earlier this year. However, the centers are now beginning to reopen, and as of June 3 there are a reported 250 treatment centers open throughout the country.

Direct Relief has reached out to healthcare partners in affected areas that may have a potential need for emergency support and has already provided over $250,000 worth of medications, IV fluids, and oral rehydration therapy to partners such as GHESKIO, Partners in Health, and Hospital Albert Schweitzer. Additionally, seven pallets of life-saving IV therapy are currently en route to Haiti, traveling on board the USS Comfort—a Navy vessel carrying emergency medical supplies to Haiti in partnership with Project Handclasp. Additional medicine and supplies in California- and Haiti-based warehouses have been made available and Direct Relief stands ready and able to respond.

Since the earthquake in January 2010, Direct Relief has dispatched over 700 tons in aid consignments to Haiti and $57 million (wholesale) in aid has been sent to care for people affected by the disaster.

A Family's Story

Donated IV solutions help save a family hit hard by cholera

"I got a call at 6 o’clock last Thursday morning from a representative at Christian Aid Ministries (CAM), which runs a network of clinics throughout Haiti. They said they were desperate for IV fluids at one of their clinics in the Northwest of the country and if they did not get the fluids by Monday, people were going to die. He was sitting at our warehouse in Haiti when he called and I could tell he was desperate.
 
"Since we had just cleared four containers through customs, gotten them to our warehouse, and offered these products out via the online portal (the first time this had been used internationally) to 12 different groups (including CAM), I was able to call our warehouse manager and have him pull the products they ordered. This included about three pallets of IV fluids that were donated by Baxter. See the note below about what this meant to these patients." —Andrew MacCalla, Haiti Program Operations Specialist

Dear Direct Relief: 

It is with overwhelming gratitude that I write to express my appreciation for the IV fluids (lactated Ringer’s solution, 1000 ml) we received from you this past week.

We are using them exclusively for the treatment of cholera patients at our 22-bed makeshift facility in northwest Haiti. We are the only ones in our rural region providing care for cholera patients.  The nearest hospitals to us are 20-plus miles away, taking 2 ½ hours to reach by vehicle.  We received our first definite cholera patient on October 27 and have been caring for them ever since. So far we’ve had 180 patients hospitalized and over 430 others who have come for milder symptoms of cholera not requiring IV fluids. To this date we haven’t lost any patients.

So far, too, we’ve always had IV fluids with which to treat our patients. There have been many times we’ve almost run out, but in the nick of time have gotten more. Sometimes we’ve been down to our last 3 liters of fluids! This past week Direct Relief saved the day for us. I think we would have run out of fluids on Monday if it wasn’t for the 10 cases of fluid we received from you over the weekend.

Here are a few pictures of the beneficiaries of those fluids:

This is Emile Milhomme. I have no doubt that he would have died without IV fluids.

This is Emile’s 2½-year-old daughter, held by his wife. She came in last night with vomiting and diarrhea. That bag of IV fluid hanging above her is one of yours. And the boy on the right is Emile’s 7-year-old son. This family likely would have had at least two deaths—if not three—if it weren’t for IV therapy, made possible in part by Direct Relief. Emile was discharged today, but his children are still in-patient.

Rose Geurline is a 3-year-old who came today. Her family carried her about four hours before finally arriving at the clinic. By the time she arrived she was semiconscious and we couldn’t get a radial pulse on her. She was rag-doll floppy. It took several tries, but finally we were able to get an IV in a vein in her foot.

Within seconds the lactated Ringer's solutions from Direct Relief were hooked up and flowing. Imagine my delight when two hours after initiation of IV fluids I found our recently semiconscious, floppy little 3-year-old sitting up and eating crackers - thanks to fluids from Direct Relief!

Thanks a million!

Bethanie Burkholder, FNP
Christian Aid Ministries
LaSource, Commune de Baie de Henne
Northwest Haiti

Six Weeks Into Outbreak, More Than 157 Tons of Medical Aid Delivered

Direct Relief providing critical materials for patient care, collaborating with 100+ partners and governmental agencies

November 24, 2010 

In response to the rapid spread of cholera in Haiti, Direct Relief has expanded its medical-supply efforts to support over 100 hospitals and health facilities throughout the country and has furnished 157 tons of medical essentials and hygiene materials to health facilities.

Direct Relief is working in collaboration with Haiti’s national Ministry of Health and its departmental directors, as well as directly with individual health facilities caring for cholera patients throughout the country.

As of yesterday, official reports indicate that 60,240 people have been treated for cholera in medical facilities across Haiti and 1,415 people have died. WHO/PAHO estimate that the cholera outbreak could affect up to 400,000 people.

The sheer physical volume of medical supplies over this six-week period is unprecedented in Direct Relief’s history. The distribution effort is being managed through a Port-au-Prince–based distribution center and Direct Relief’s SAP-based inventory platform that enables online ordering, tracking, and visibility.

Consistent with Direct Relief’s longstanding practice, all medical materials have been requested by end-user health facilities and imported with the approval of the Haitian Ministry of Health, and all are furnished free of charge. Below is a summary of the aid furnished:

• Doxycycline:sufficient quantities to treat 23,500 people with severe cases of cholera.
• I.V. materials:72,421 1-liter bags of lactated ringers and sodium chloride (estimated by requesting facilities to treat at least 10,000 patients needing intravenous rehydration.) An additional 40,000 I.V. catheters is en route.
• Pedialyte children’s oral rehydration solution: 10,689 1-liter bottles (estimated to treat 2,672 babies with each child receiving four 1-liter bottles).
• Premixed oral rehydration solution: 26,100 1-liter containers (estimated to treat 9,000 patients with moderate or early stages of cholera).
• Disinfectants and Hygiene Supplies: 30,864 bottles of hand sanitizer, 19,200 bars of soap, 4,200 gallons of bleach, and enough PUR water tablets to purify 57,600 gallons of water. These materials have been requested to prevent the spread of cholera, as the most important aspects of prevention are clean water, proper hygiene, and disinfection.

Rapid and extensive support from Direct Relief’s corporate partners to the cholera outbreak has been essential, as the vast majority of medical material noted above has been donated from commercial inventories. Direct Relief has used $200,000 in Haiti-designated cash contributions for transporting, clearing, in-country trucking and delivery of materials in response to the cholera outbreak.

Haiti Cholera Outbreak: Report from the Field

Members of Direct Relief's Emergency Response Team are in Haiti assessing needs and managing the response to the cholera outbreak there; they sent this report: 

Here’s a quick update and some insights gleaned from conversations with people directly treating cholera patients. We are coordinating at the highest levels of government and providing needed medicines to Haiti's health system. Here are a few highlights from the last two days:

Today we had a request from Mrs. Flaurine Joseph, Pharmacy Director for Haiti, to support the Northern Department (which includes Cap-Haitien, the second-largest city in the country and where cholera cases have been reported) with supplies to treat cholera. We told her that an air shipment landed today in Cap-Haitien and is being followed by two ocean containers. This shipment was sent in direct response to a request by the director of the Ministry of Health (MSPP) in the country’s Northern Department, Dr. Jasmin. Mrs. Joseph immediately called Dr. Jasmin to confirm that it had arrived and announced the news at a meeting of ministry officials and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

We met with medical officers who have been directly responding to the cholera outbreak, as well as Mrs. Joseph and Georges Dubuche of Management Sciences for Health. The consensus is that what we've seen so far is just the tip of the iceberg. The population is mobile and many people don't have access to clean drinking water. The 10,000 confirmed cases are in six of Haiti’s ten Departments.

Today we visited Medishare in Port-au-Prince, which now has four patients in a cholera tent in the back of the hospital. They have strict regulations about who can go in and out and the need to bleach your hands and feet upon exiting the tent. Hence the huge need for bleach in country.

There are roughly 20 Cholera Treatment Centers (CTCs) around the country that are being managed by the MSPP and NGOs. These are tents where cholera patients are placed (away from the normal patient population) on cholera beds and receive IV drips. We were told today that a patient can lose up to 15 liters of fluid a day and often require four IV bags at a time to replenish them. But if they are caught and treated early, they can be healthy within hours.

Everyone we've spoken to--doctors, nurses, pharmacists, MSPP--has confirmed that the most needed items are lactated ringers, normal saline, IV poles, oral rehydration solution, and bleach. These are the items we’ve been providing.

It seems that groups working on the ground are doing a great job of sharing resources and getting what's needed where it needs to go.

Direct Relief Equipping Partners Responding to Cholera Outbreak as Hurricane Tomas Looms

November 4, 2010 

This week, Direct Relief has distributed 27 pallets of medical material aid in Haiti to fill a critical need to treat cholera patients there, especially under threat as Hurricane Tomas looms.

• Partners in Health received 16 pallets to serve their patients in Mirebalais (an hour north of Port-au-Prince, where five people have died and 100 more need medical attention) and Saut-d'Eau.
• Hospital Albert Schweitzer (HAS) has taken four pallets to their hospital in Deschapelles, where they have been seeing 90 patients per day.  HAS was the first hospital in Haiti to see cholera patients during the outbreak.
• Project Medishare in Port-au-Prince is using seven pallets in the St. Marc area to support its temporary cholera treatment centers.

Andrew MacCalla, Direct Relief’s Haiti operations specialist, has been participating in U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) health cluster meetings to inform our response in collaboration with governmental and nongovernmental agencies. He reports that as of yesterday, Haiti’s Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) has counted 442 deaths and 6,742 hospitalized cases from cholera. Also:

• Bad sanitation conditions in many parts of the country, combined with heavy rain (15 inches predicted over the next 48 hours) from Hurricane Tomas  and ensuing flooding and displacement of people are expected to accelerate the cholera infection rate.
• MSPP has requested additional clean water distribution as well as a focus on the Cite Soleil and Cite Eternal communities, which are especially vulnerable to weather-related events
• MSPP is promoting the training of medical staff on management of severe dehydration, focusing on the correct distribution and use of ORS, as well as distribution of soap and water purification tabs.

Direct Relief has supplied 30 tons of ORS to assist in this effort, as well as distributing thousands of hygiene kits for families living in temporary camps in Port-au-Prince, Carrefour, and St. Marc.

Massive Infusion of Aid Delivered to Fight Cholera Outbreak in Haiti

October 29, 2010 

Direct Relief’s 20-ton emergency air shipment of medical supplies sent earlier this week is being used to help treat thousands of cholera patients and to restock regional hospitals’ supplies that have been drained in fighting the outbreak.

Direct Relief is infusing an additional 137 tons of medical essentials by ocean and air transport in response to requests for assistance from 4 Departments in Haiti, including the Artibonite Department in which the outbreak occurred.

In response to a request from Dr. Jasmin, director of Haiti's Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) in the Northern Department, Direct Relief is providing to the Justinian University Hospital in Cap-Haitien antibiotics to treat 16,000 people and tablets to purify 30,000 gallons of water in the event cholera spreads to the north.

In response to other requests from the MSPP and partner groups providing aid, Direct Relief is providing large volumes of essentials, including:

• 4,200 gallons of bleach, donated by the Clorox Company in the Dominican Republic;
• A 40-foot ocean container of CeraLyte, a premixed oral rehydration solution;
• Four 40-foot containers of IV solution, tubing, and needles donated by Baxter.

Direct Relief has allocated $250,000 to mobilize and transport the large volumes of medical supplies needed to respond aggressively to this public health emergency.

Haiti’s MSPP reported today a total of 4,649 cases of cholera and 305 deaths in four departments since October 20. Cholera, a diarrheal disease, is spread primarily through water contaminated with fecal matter and quickly turns fatal when a patient becomes dehydrated.

News and radio programs are being broadcast in the capital city to inform residents on proper hand-washing techniques and ways to stay hydrated until one can get to the hospital if they suspect they are ill. Officials are working to locate the source of cholera, as it has not been seen in Haiti for over 50 years and reportedly didn't arise directly as a result of the earthquake.

Direct Relief Providing Needed Medicines and Supplies at Request of Haitian Ministry of Health and Director of Pharmaceutical Services

October 28, 2010 

This week Direct Relief International collaborated with the Haitian Ministry of Health in the North, West, and Centre departments to supply public health facilities with products to treat and prevent the spread of cholera in outlying areas and continues to work closely with the Ministry of Health.

In addition to the 20-ton air shipment supplied to Partners in Health, Hospital Albert Schweitzer, and the Medishare program this week to support their efforts to treat cholera patients, Direct Relief is also supplying Justinian University Hospital, the second-largest public hospital in the country, located in the north of Haiti, with water purification tabs, antibiotics, oral rehydration solutions, and IV fluids should the outbreak extend there.

Direct Relief also received a truckload of 4,200 gallons of bleach from The Clorox Company in the Dominican Republic. This generous donation will deliver to the Artibonite region so the hospitals and clinics can properly clean their facilities and prevent the spread of the infection to other patients.  

While the death rates from the cholera outbreak have slowed, public officials still fear that there may be a larger outbreak in Port-au-Prince due to the highly mobile Haitian population. The infection can spread quickly if the proper sanitation is not practiced. Direct Relief will continue to provide needed supplies to the primary points of medical care throughout Haiti throughout this crisis.

Haiti: Direct Relief Commits $250,000, Airlifts 20 Tons of Medical Aid for Cholera Outbreak

October 25, 2010 

Direct Relief International today committed $250,000 in cash and sent a 20-ton emergency air shipment of essential medical supplies in response to the outbreak in Haiti of cholera, which public health officials today reported has claimed 253 lives and infected 3,015 people in the department of the Artibonite. See a video update 

Direct Relief’s emergency air shipment contains medications and supplies requested by Partners in Health and Hospital Albert Schweitzer, which manage hospitals in the affected areas and have scaled up their efforts to treat cholera patients. Direct Relief also is working with the Haitian Ministry of Health and other public health officials throughout the country to provide supplies needed to treat cholera patients and prevent an expansion of the outbreak beyond the Artibonite.  The Ministry’s Department of Pharmacy made an additional request for assistance today.

Cholera is spread through water and food contaminated by human waste. Efforts to contain the outbreak are centered on providing people with access to clean food and water, education about proper hygiene, oral rehydration, and antibiotics once the infection has progressed to a more severe stage. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) warns of the spreading of cholera to slum areas, earthquake recovery camps, and across the border to the Dominican Republic.

Direct Relief also has distributed 2,000 hygiene kits for families who may be susceptible to infection. These kits contain basic products, including soap, shampoo, bleach, detergent, and feminine hygiene supplies, to support a family of five for one month.

Since the January quake, Direct Relief has provided over 450 tons of medical aid worth over $52 million to dozens of medical facilities throughout Haiti. In addition, Direct Relief established a grant program for local Haitian nongovernmental organizations providing essential services. This grant program has thus far furnished over $500,000 in cash grants to 25 locally run Haitian organizations.
 

Direct Relief Emergency Aid Shipment Enroute to Haiti

Organization scaling up emergency infusion to treat 10,000 cholera patients 

October 22, 2010 - 5 pm 

Direct Relief International has dispatched this afternoon a shipment of critically needed medical aid to Haiti in response to the cholera outbreak there. Valued at more than $60,000 (wholesale), the consignment includes more than eight tons of material, including antibiotics to treat the infection and IV supplies.

Facilities in the St. Marc area are overwhelmed with cholera patients; Partners in Health reports that its facility in St. Marc is treating 1,600 people alone. With new cases appearing near Port-au-Prince, prevention is also critical. Direct Relief also dispatched 400 hygiene kits today from our warehouse in Haiti, which are being sent to St. Marc tonight to help improve personal sanitation and prevent the spread of cholera.

Dr. Georges Dubuche, of Management Sciences for Health, described the outbreak as a “terrible situation that threatens the nation.”

Direct Relief is scaling its infusion of emergency medical aid to treat approximately 10,000 people, and is collaborating with governmental and nongovernmental agencies to assist in the response. Haiti’s Director of Pharmacy, Mrs. Flaurine Joseph, has extended a request for Direct Relief’s assistance in responding to the outbreak. Mrs. Joseph visited Direct Relief’s headquarters earlier this year to learn about and observe the tight controls on pharmaceuticals and other medical aid we provide.

Direct Relief Delivering Urgently Needed Medical Aid to Fight Cholera Outbreak in Haiti

October 22, 2010 

Direct Relief International is urgently delivering needed medical aid to partners in Haiti responding to the fast-moving cholera outbreak. Partner health facilities and news reports have indicated that more than 140 people have already died in the few days since the outbreak began. While the outbreak is currently in the central plateau, about 60 miles north of Port-au-Prince, the fear is that cholera will spread quickly among the hundreds of thousands of people still living in camps after the January earthquake.

Hospital Albert Schweitzer and Partners in Health in St. Marc and St. Damien Hospital  in Port-au-Prince have requested materials to treat the diarrheal disease, which can quickly become fatal as a patient becomes dehydrated. The materials include IV sets and solutions, oral rehydration solutions for adults and children, antibiotics, soap, bleach, masks, gloves, and water purification tablets.

With Direct Relief’s relationships and systems put in place in response to the January 2010 earthquake, the organization is ideally positioned to expedite this urgently needed aid. Hurricane modules, which contain such items as oral rehydration solution and other appropriate products, were pre-positioned in June with Partners in Health, St. Damien Children's Hospital, and Justinian University Hospital in Cap-Haitien (north of the outbreak).

Seven ocean freight containers are in port in Haiti now, with four containing materials that can be used to help cholera patients. Direct Relief is also working to source urgently needed material to air freight to Haiti. The organization is coordinating efforts with the Haitian Ministry of Health and Georges Dubuche of Management Sciences for Health to expedite the response and save lives.

Cholera spreads through compromised water and sanitation systems; it is believed that this outbreak has originated near the Artibonite River. With more than 1,500 cases reported so far, the outbreak could reach tragic proportions if it hits the nearby camps in Port-au-Prince.