Haiti+Before+the+Earthquake

Public Health in Haiti: Before and After the 2010 Earthquake Basically, an outbreak of cholera, or other form of infectious disease, probably would have happened eventually due to the poor living conditions of Haiti. The earthquake of 2010 just expedited the occurrence of an outbreak. Where the cholera outbreak originated: 1. Cholera was first detected 55 miles away from any “displaced persons camp” in urban areas a. 60 cases in Oct. 2010 2. by November, the disease had spread to the slums that were located in the capital a. between Oct. 20th and November 9th, 11000 reported cases of cholera and 724 deaths Sanitation Issus: 1. Before the earthquake: a. 55% of the population was in extreme poverty b. less than half of 9.7 million Haitians had clean, uncontaminated water c. 83% didn’t have adequate sanitary facilities (ie, only 27% had basic sewage) d. 70% of Haitians had basic or no toilets Healthcare and Health education: 1. Haiti, before the earthquake, was ranked 147th out of 147 countries on the Water Poverty index. 2. The healthcare system in Haiti did not have an adequate infrastructure and there was no emergency medical system (in case an earthquake like the one in 2010 happened. a. There are about 250 nongovernmental organizations in Haiti that provide most of the healthcare that was available) b. The healthcare system in place is not prepared to prevent disease outbreaks Population Density Changes: 1. 1.3-2 million people displaced because of the earthquake 2. People either: a. Stayed in the cities and crowded into field hospitals/camps b. Fled to rural Haiti to seek refuge from destruction in the cities (especially in Port-au-Prince) 3. The people of rural Haiti were already struggling with sanitation issues (look under “Sanitation”), and the people who fled to rural areas put stress on already stressed communities a. This added stress caused the water sources to be even more polluted with human waste, so an outbreak of cholera was more likely