From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
PAHO/WHO to support Haiti with $500,000 for water and sanitation connections in health centers
By PAHO/WHO
Mar 5, 2013 - 4:35:19 PM
Funds will help improve care for cholera patients following departure of international NGOs
Washington, D.C. — The Pan
American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) will
provide $500,000 from its technical cooperation resources to finance the
installation of water and sanitation connections in primary healthcare
centers in Haiti, under Haiti’s new National Plan for the Elimination of
Cholera 2013-2022.
PAHO Director Carissa F. Etienne announced the new funding during
Haiti’s official launch of the plan last week. The plan outlines $2.2
billion in investments in water and sanitation infrastructure,
epidemiological and microbiological surveillance, health-care
management, and health promotion and hygiene over the next 10 years. It
budgets $485.9 million in investments over the next two years
(2013-2015).
“This plan, when implemented, can and will finally halt cholera
transmission in Haiti and ensure that any future introduction of the
disease can be quickly controlled,” said Etienne. “But for the plan to
be implemented, Haiti’s friends in the international community must
align their efforts and harmonize around this plan and provide the
necessary financial resources.”
PAHO/WHO’s contribution of $500,000 will support efforts to improve
health care for cholera patients, a particularly urgent challenge due to
the departure of many nongovernmental organizations and because of an
increase in new cases in early 2013, following heavy rains from
Hurricane Sandy. The number of specialized cholera treatment centers has
declined 42% over the past year, and many remaining centers lack
fundamental water and sanitation connections, which can contribute to
the further spread of cholera.
Over the next two years, Haiti plans to expand the number of primary
health-care centers from 241 to 500 by 2015, construct special areas
within primary centers to treat acute diarrheal cases, and implement
special norms and procedures for infection control.
Since the beginning of the cholera epidemic, PAHO has provided
technical cooperation worth an estimated US$1.5 million and has received
and spent some US$25.3 million from other sources to support
cholera-related efforts in Haiti. In addition to the $500,000 announced
this week, PAHO is allocating $2.3 million annually from its regular
budget to support cholera elimination through technical cooperation in
water and sanitation, alert and response, health systems improvements,
and health and hygiene promotion.
In addition, PAHO serves as the secretariat of the Regional Coalition
on Water and Sanitation to Eliminate Cholera Transmission in the Island
of Hispaniola, which supports Haiti with technical expertise and
resource mobilization. The coalition’s 18 members include the CDC,
UNICEF, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation
(AECID), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank, the
Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the International Federation of Red Cross
and, WASH Advocates, and others.
© Copyright 2013 by thebahamasweekly.com -