Essay On Haitian Earthquake

Before the earthquake, Haiti was already a country with high prevalence of infant mortality, poor nutrition, and diseases such as HIV and Turberclosis. In Haiti ,“An estimated 87 of every 1,000 children born die by the age of 5 years, and >25% of surviving children experience chronic undernutrition or stunted growth. Maternal mortality rate is 630 per 100,000 live births.” (SITE) The life expectancy in Haiti is 61 years. Due to low vaccination rates, Haitians are at risk of spreading vaccine preventable diseases. Due to the high numbers of poverty, only about 50 percent of the haitian population has access to healthcare. Before the earthquake, “ only 63% of Haiti’s population had access to an improved drinking water source (e.g., water from a well or pipe), and only 17% had access to a latrine .” (SITE) Since the earthquake, the number of people with access to clean water and proper sanitation has decreased. The Cholera outbreak became known in October after the earthquake due to many patient with watery diarrhea and dehydration. An investigation team interviewed 27 patients, “who resided in communities along the Artibonite River or who worked in nearby rice fields. Many patients said they drank untreated river water before they became ill, and few had defecated
The most important way to decrease the incidence of cholera was to improve water, sanitation, and hygiene. There needs to be treated water that is accessible to the people. NGO's and agencies gathered to make some change. The concern was the piped water supply for chlorination. Purifying water tablets were distributed to homes. The main challenge was distributing the purifying water tablets to homes that were in difficult to reach areas. Educating the public was key. Information about boiling drinking water and seeking care early were sent out through text messages and mass media