Just in time for the rainy season, funding to support Hôpital Sacré Coeur’s cholera ward has ended.
Since 2010, Hôpital Sacré Coeur has received funding in excess of $100,000 a year to treat cholera victims. This funding came from an emergency international assistance program, which has now lapsed. While funding ended in late March, cholera continues to menace Haiti with a vengeance.
Since it emerged in the wake of the 2010 earthquake, cholera has sickened nearly 650,000 people throughout the country, more than 8,000 of whom have died. Two and a half years later, Hôpital Sacré Coeur’s cholera ward has a steady stream of patients, which typically picks-up during the rainy season (April through June).
In the past, the hospital has had the staff and resources to manage its way through the Spring uptick in cholera patients, but this year may be different.
The shortfall created by the loss of emergency cholera funding is compounded by the already difficult financial situation facing the hospital. Unless another funding source can be secured, cuts in other vital services will have to be made to keep the cholera ward open.
A recent article in the British Medical Journal, The Lancet, noted “… with the rainy season approaching, some fear a surge in new cases could overwhelm Haiti’s ill-equipped cholera treatment centres, many of which have struggled to retain staff and replenish supplies in the face of donor fatigue and errors of perception about the state of the epidemic.”
Because there is very little clean water and sewerage infrastructure in the country, cholera is the new normal for Haiti. Cholera infections increase during rainy periods as surface runoff spreads the pathogen from one population center to another and into rivers and lakes where the cholera bacterium can survive.
Caring for cholera patients will remain a challenge at Hôpital Sacré Coeur for some time to come.
If you would like to assist in meeting this vital need, please contact the CRUDEM office at 413-642-0450 or email Dr. Joni Paterson at info@crudem.org. You can also make a donation online, here.
