Haiti launches cholera vaccination campaign
Effort targets 200,000 people in three departments considered at high risk

Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 2 September 2014 (PAHO/WHO) – Haiti launched a cholera vaccination campaign last week that seeks to reach 200,000 people in three departments. The campaign is being led by the Ministry of Health and Population (MSPP) with support from the United Nations and a coalition of strategic partners, including the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO).

The campaign has financing from the U.N. Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and is using vaccines from a global stockpile created at the request of the 2011 World Health Assembly as a tool to help control cholera outbreaks worldwide. WHO serves as secretariat for the global stockpile, which is also supported by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Doctors without Borders, and UNICEF.

Last week’s campaign was carried out in Artibonite (Gonaives and Ennery), Central (Lascahobas, Saut d’Eau, Savanette and Mirebalais), and West (Arcahaie) departments, which are considered high-risk zones. A second phase is planned for mid-September to deliver a second dose of the vaccine…