Life
UN warns of possible surge in Haiti cholera deaths
A United Nations envoy warned Wednesday that cholera deaths in Haiti will surge and spread to other countries unless more funds are found to battle the epidemic.
More than 8,330 people have already died from cholera, that started in 2010 and many blame on UN peacekeepers based in the Caribbean nation.
It has since been proven by credible studies, that the disease was in fact introduced into the country by UN peacekeepers, and that the United Nations is currently facing a lawsuit in this regard.
But UN special envoy Pedro Medrano told reportes in an interview that legal wrangling over the epidemic has to be put aside in order to tackle the sweeping advance of the disease.
Medrano said cash is lacking for purification tablets, anti-biotics and staff to keep up a campaign that has cut the number of victims over the past two years.
The 65,000 new cases reported in 2013 were the lowest reported yet but still more than 550 people died, according to UN figures.
Medrano said that unless funds are found the UN estimates that the number of cases could double this year and deaths increase four fold. “If we are not prepared to make the investment now, we will have this year perhaps close to 180,000 cases and even up to 2,000 fatalities,” he said.
