Food For The Poor Provides Urgently Needed Supplies to Fight Cholera in Haiti
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Oct. 19, 2022) – Food For The Poor is providing lifesaving medical supplies to combat a growing number of cholera cases in Haiti.
The waterborne illness has caused at least 35 deaths, with more than 600 suspected or confirmed cases in the area surrounding Port-au-Prince, according to the latest figures from the Pan American Health Organization.
FFTP will purchase oral hydration salts and other needed items where possible in Haiti and supplement that by airfreighting five pallets of Liquid I.V. oral hydration powder from its Coconut Creek warehouse. The pallets, which are scheduled to arrive Sunday in Haiti, contain 72,000 packets.
In addition to these supplies, FFTP-Haiti has provided two cases each of water purification tablets to Hopital La Paix, Les Centres Gheskio and Centre Recuperation Nutritionnelle to help with the sick.
The charity’s swift action comes amid a rise in cholera cases throughout the country’s severely crowded prison system and dwindling supplies of clean water, according to news reports. The cholera bacteria spreads easily and can cause severe diarrhea and dehydration that can be deadly.
For months, Haiti has been paralyzed by gangs and civil unrest, leading to severe shortages of fuel, drinking water and other basic supplies.
The United Nations is warning that hunger in one of Haiti’s biggest slums is at catastrophic levels, as gang violence and economic crises push the country to the “breaking point,” the BBC reported.
Nearly 20,000 people in the capital’s impoverished Cité Soleil area have dangerously little access to food and could face starvation, according to the BBC. Across Haiti, almost 5 million people are struggling with malnutrition.
“The country is basically locked down right now,” FFTP President/CEO Ed Raine said. “There is nothing that is functioning as normal in Haiti right now. They’re frankly dealing with issues of life and death survival. When there is a window of opportunity our staff is going in and trying to distribute goods as best as they can. But with respect to normalcy, it does not exist in Haiti right this minute.”
At least two hospitals have shut down because they don’t have fuel or can’t provide the necessary responses as cholera cases are increasing, according to FFTP-Haiti Executive Director Mario Nicoleau.
“There is no fuel available and essentials such as food and drinking water are scarce. People can’t find clean water to drink,” Nicoleau said. “Disasters of all sorts loom.”
Donors can help FFTP deliver aid to Haiti by making a cash donation. Go to: www.FoodForThePoor.org/haiticrisis.
Food For The Poor, one of the largest international relief and development organizations in the nation, does much more than feed millions of hungry children and families living in poverty primarily in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicine, educational materials, homes, support for vulnerable children, care for the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.
Michael Turnbell
Communications
(954) 471-0928
[email protected]