PAHO/WHO: Haiti to launch cholera vaccination with PAHO/WHO support
Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 23 July 2014 (PAHO/WHO)
Excerpt
Haiti is set to vaccinate 200,000 people in three departments against cholera starting in August, with support from the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO).
The campaign will be carried out in the Artibonite (Gonaives and Ennery), Central (Lascahobas, Saut d’Eau, Savanette and Mirebalais), and West (Arcahaie) departments, which were chosen by the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) because they are considered high-risk zones…

PAHO/WHO’s representative in Haiti, Jean-Luc Poncelet, noted that vaccination is one of a series of measures implemented by Haitian health authorities with support from PAHO/WHO and other international partners. Other key measures include timely treatment for people sickened by the disease, improved access to potable water and adequate sanitation, the promotion of community participation and strengthened epidemiological surveillance…

Last week, PAHO/WHO shipped 400,000 doses of oral cholera vaccine (OCV) to Haiti. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon formally presented the vaccines to Minister of Health Florence Guillaume. They are being kept at Haiti’s PROMESS warehouse, which has been managed by PAHO/WHO since 1992.

Financed by the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the vaccines are from a global stockpile created by the World Health Assembly in 2011 to provide an additional tool for controlling cholera epidemics around the world. Besides Haiti, the global stockpile—for which WHO serves as secretariat—has also provided vaccines to the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Guinea and Ethiopia. The stockpile is also supported by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Doctors without Borders and UNICEF.

PAHO/WHO is also assisting efforts to fight cholera in Haiti and the Dominican Republic along with other members of the Regional Coalition for Water and Sanitation to Eliminate Cholera in Hispaniola. The Coalition, for which PAHO/WHO serves as secretariat, provides technical expertise on cholera control and elimination and is seeking to mobilize resources to support the two countries’ national plans to eliminate cholera by 2022…

:: Oral cholera vaccine stockpile (WHO)
:: Regional Coalition for Water and Sanitation to Eliminate Cholera in Hispaniola

.

WHO: Humanitarian Health Action [to 26 July 2014]
:: The cholera outbreak and health situation in South Sudan
25 July 2014 –“General security situation remained calm in most parts of the country, with isolated incidents and clashes in Upper Nile, Jonglei and Unity states. No new significant displacements have been reported. Efforts to contain the cholera outbreak continue. Health facilities had recorded 5,141 (CFR 2.2%) cases by 21 July 2014. Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD) is the leading cause of morbidity among Internally Displaced People (IDP)…
:: Read the latest health situation report
pdf, 894kb
:: Read the latest Health Cluster bulletin
pdf, 883kb