EpidemicsNew plan to fight cholera in Haiti meets resistance
Haiti’s latest attempt to stamp out the cholera epidemic that has ravaged its population is meeting sharp criticism from public health authorities; Haiti’s two most prominent health care organizations plan to deploy hundreds of workers to the country’s remote villages and the impoverished alleys of the capital to administer vaccines
Haiti’s latest attempt to stamp out the cholera epidemic that has ravaged its population is meeting sharp criticism from public health authorities.
Haiti’s two most prominent health care organizations plan to deploy hundreds of workers to the country’s remote villages and the impoverished alleys of the capital to administer vaccines.
The project will cost $870,000 and public health experts question whether inoculating only 1 percent of the population is worth the money given that the program could deplete the world’s stock of cholera vaccines and put vulnerable populations at risk.
In addition, the cholera vaccine must be administered twice in a two week interval in order to be effective, making the likelihood of success even more difficult.
Instead, critics argue that the money would be better spent cleaning up the infected waters that have allowed cholera to spread throughout the country.
“Everybody thinks it’s going to do some good,” said Richard Garfield, a professor of public health and nursing at Columbia University. “But it’s hard to specify how much good and benefit will come out of that…There are bigger-bang-for-the-buck activities out there.”
Dr. David Olson, a medical adviser for Doctors Without Borders, echoed Garfield’s thoughts stating, “Money spent on vaccines should not come at the expense of money spent on permanent water and sanitation measures.”
Doctors Without Borders estimates it would cost up to $40 million to inoculate the entire Haitian population and the vaccine would begin to wear off within three years.
In contrast, Dr. Paul Farmer, the co-founder of Partners in Health, which is advocating for the vaccine in Haiti, argued that the vaccines should be administered to the country’s poor regardless of the cost.
“It’s been a joke to focus on how much it costs,” Farmer said. “The Haitian cholera epidemic is the largest in the world.”
Following the devastating earthquake in January 2010, cholera spread rapidly through the country. With infrastructure destroyed and aid workers and the government struggling to provide adequate living conditions to the thousands of newly homeless people, the disease flourished.
According to Haiti’s Health Ministry, more than 500,000 people have been sickened and over 6,500 have been killed by the disease.
Cholera is contracted by drinking water contaminated with the Vibrio cholerae bacteriam or contact with people who have the disease. Those infected with cholera suffer from severe diarrhea, which can lead to rapid dehydration and death within hours if not properly treated.
