The cholera epidemic[/B] has now claimed the lives of at least 283 people in Haiti and continues to spread across the country, the UN has warned, highlighting more broadly the frightening scale of humanitarian needs in the impoverished Caribbean country.
"The cholera epidemic continues to be a concern for the country and for us. The number of cases continues to rise, with 283 deaths and nearly 12,000 hospital admissions" following the resurgence of the disease in early October, said Ulrika Richardson, the United Nations humanitarian affairs coordinator in the country, during a press conference.
As of mid-November, the death toll stood at 161 dead and had become 7.500 hospital admissions.
Another "worrying trend": "what we are seeing is not only a continued increase in the number of cholera cases, but also a spread of cholera in the regions, with 8 out of 10 having confirmed cases," she said.
In mid-November, the UN launched an appeal to raise $145.6 million to tackle the epidemic. To date, pledges have been made for "just 16%" of that amount, or $23.5 million, the coordinator stressed.
But in a country where gang violence is a scourge, the humanitarian needs are much broader than simply dealing with the new cholera outbreak, following the one that claimed 10 lives.000 people from 2010 to 2019.
One in two Haitians are unable to eat when hungry. The UN has prepared a humanitarian aid plan for 2023 that is estimated to cost $719 million, in other words almost double that for 2022. "This is an alarming situation," she insisted, while deploring the "galloping insecurity."
[BR][BR]The gangs, which control "almost 60% of the capital," are using "with frightening intensity" sexual violence "as a weapon to keep the population under their control," she complained.
Source: APM
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