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U.N. Secy-Gen Ban Ki-moon launches bid to stamp out cholera in Haiti
“Because global vaccines are in short supply, we will first target high-risk areas: densely populated urban areas and rural areas far removed from health services,” he said. “As production increases, the vaccine effort will expand its reach.”
Ban announced that US$215 million in existing funds from donors would be used to support the initiative, while the United Nations would contribute US$23.5 million on top of US$118 million the U.N. system has already spent on the cholera outbreak.
“I will use every opportunity in the months ahead to mobilize even more funding,” Ban said.
Haiti’s Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe told Reuters in September that the epidemic was “regrettable” but had been brought under control.
Haiti is still struggling to lift itself from the rubble left by an earthquake in January 2010 that killed about 300,000 people and left more than 1.5 million homeless. Lamothe said 1.2 million of those had been moved back into homes, while the United Nations said 390,000 were still living in tent camps.
